


The Burning Rose

by Snarky_SilverHaired_Sociopath



Category: RWBY
Genre: Although Cinder does have some undertones of this., Background Bumbleby, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Flirting, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, It doesn't refer to anything Cinder does to Ruby. It's a different incident in the past., Jealousy, Mild Sexual Content, Nudity, Some drama later on, Studying, past white rose
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-02-06 18:43:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12823728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snarky_SilverHaired_Sociopath/pseuds/Snarky_SilverHaired_Sociopath
Summary: Ruby starts to become very acquainted with the new Haven exchange-student.





	1. One late night

**Author's Note:**

> Ruby's thoughts are the italicized sections. The Implied sexual assault does not refer to anything Cinder does to Ruby. It refers to a past incident that will be explained in a later chapter.

Ruby sat in the library long after the rest of her team had left. She kept reading up on her studies trying to get everything down. Still struggling to stay awake. There wasn’t anywhere she could get coffee at this hour and she was quickly running out. _Ugh_ , she thought, _I really should’ve taken up Weiss’ offer to help study._ Weiss was able to stay up for hours when they studied. She’d say it was her Semblance if she hadn’t already seen it. She was usually the one to keep her awake. Now she was on her own. Running on fumes on this point. _Alright. Focus, Ruby. You can do this. Professor Oobleck’s test will not defeat me! I’ve dealt with Grimm worse than those tests. I can do this._ In reality, staying awake would be the real challenge.

Not too long after this declaration in her thoughts, she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up wondering who it could be. Even the librarian wasn’t even in here anymore. She looked around to see who it was. Then she saw her. The Haven exchange student she bumped into a few days ago. (Well, she bumped into her friend, but still.) Her burning amber eyes stared intently at her and it was almost as if Ruby could feel them burning her. “A little late to be studying, isn’t it?” she said as she sat down elegantly next to Ruby. Something about her was familiar but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Uh, yeah,” she sheepishly replied. “Just finishing up to make sure I’ve got everything down.”

“I can admire that. Some of my roommates don’t have the same ethics as you do for studying.” She leans in closer while resting her chin on her knuckles. Something about her made Ruby feel a little uncomfortable. She just couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. “Do you mind if I stay with you while you study?” she said in a low, almost alluring voice. “I don’t have much to do and I might as well spend it with you.”

Something about the way she proposed this offer made Ruby suddenly flustered. She could feel her cheeks starting to turn red. _Well, it’s… just a friend who wants to help me study. Yeah. Nothing wrong with that…_ “Uh… sure. Fine. I- I guess you could. I don’t mind…”

“Excellent.” The exchange student scooted her chair closer to Ruby.

“By the way, I don’t think I got your name before.”

“Cinder,” she replied in a breathy tone. Something about her was making Ruby so uneasy. And not even in a way of sensing danger. _Why am I so nervous about this?! I mean she’s pretty but… actually gorgeous... Wait! Why am I thinking of this?_

“Are you alright?”

That snapped her out of her trance and made her realize she had spaced out. “Uh, sorry. What were you saying?” she blurted out.

“I was asking for your name.” Something about Cinder’s tone just made her feel… butterflies in her stomach.

“Oh. I- it’s Ruby. Ruby Rose.”

“What a lovely name.” Cinder’s gaze seemed to grow more intense.

“Th- thanks. I… I like yours, too.” She chuckled nervously before noticing Cinder’s hand coming closer. However, it goes for the books to get a better look. Ruby could’ve sworn that she was going for her hand.

They spent about half an hour reading up on the exploits of the Human/Faunus wars and the various creatures of Grimm. Cinder was pretty smart and she really knew her stuff (as would be expected from a senior). However, Ruby couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on. She listened as Cinder started to read the textbook again.

However, she noticed something on her leg. Cinder’s hand seemed to have idly wandered over to Ruby’s thigh just above her knee. _That… that was just an accident. Right? It’s just fine._ Her sentiment changed when she felt more pressure on her thigh. Deliberate. But Cinder kept reading as if nothing was happening. Now she was really nervous... but at the same time, she seemed… excited about it. Her heart started beating faster as her eyes widened. _Well, there’s no danger of falling asleep now_ , she remarked, trying to take her mind off what Cinder’s actions were making her feel.

“You know, Ruby,” Cinder said as she looked up from the textbook to give her that intense gaze, “I was wondering how someone as young as you made it into Beacon so early.” She said that as her hand started slowly creeping up Ruby’s thigh. Ruby was finding it hard to breathe as she started to crumble in Cinder’s gaze. It almost seemed like glaring if not for her small smile.

“Well… Ozpin saw me f- fighting… some guys robbing a Dust shop… with that Torchwick guy…” She was finding it hard to focus when a sudden heat started to flare up between her legs. Cinder’s hand moving higher up her thighs and closer inside. Her eyes did not break contact with Ruby’s at all, but she was leaning in closer.

“Roman Torchwick,” she stated plainly, “the wanted criminal. It must’ve been very dangerous.” It almost seemed like she wasn’t surprised. “Were you scared at all, Ruby?”

 _No, but for some reason, I’m scared right now._ “Uh, not really… it was just… me trying to help. I guess…” Her breath hitched when Cinder’s fingers reached her crotch. She was young, but she was old enough to know what was going on now. But she froze. Not wanting to move away.

“You must be very brave…” she said. Almost breathed out in a low moan. “…I like that.” Her fingers continued to rub as Ruby started to moan herself.

“I… I have to go!” she blurted out as she slammed her textbooks shut, gathering them to head back to her dorm. “M- my team will be wondering where I am.” She stood up quickly and grabbed her things. “Thanks for helping me study, Cinder… I’ll see you around.”

Then Cinder pulled her in and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. Ruby was almost as red as both her namesakes. “I sure hope so.” Her grin extended to one side as she watched the other girl’s change in demeanor.

“Uh…” Ruby struggled to say anything else other than, “Bye.” With that, she hurried away, not looking back at Cinder. Even now she could feel her eyes on her back. Ruby was almost hyperventilating. What the heck was that?! She was wondering what Cinder could have possibly wanted with her from all of that. Well… it seemed obvious, but why she wanted her specifically was something that confused her. And the thing that scared her most… is that she kind of liked it. _I guess I definitely shouldn’t tell Weiss about this. Not too sure about Yang, but still. It’s not like she’s gonna do it again… right?_

Her nerves were racked so much she almost passed her dorm. She opened up the door to find Blake and Yang sleeping soundly in their bunks. Yang on top of the covers possibly just being too lazy or exhausted to bother pulling the comforter over her. The only one who wasn’t asleep? Weiss. She had been sitting up on her bed waiting for her. Now Ruby was rather concerned.

“Oh, hey Weiss,” she tried to say casually. “What are you doing up so late?”

The Ice Queens’s stern face certainly lived up to the moniker. The cold blue eyes glared at Ruby with concern. “I could ask you the same question.”

It was a fair question. Ruby had to admit that much. However, Weiss was clearly dodging the question herself. And Ruby was privy enough to know that. “I was just studying Wiess. I- it’s no big deal.” Weiss didn’t buy it. That much was plainly written on her face. However, she didn’t press the issue since she was already so tired.

Weiss sighed and said, “Just get some sleep.” Ruby was happy to oblige. She changed into her pajamas and climbed up to her bed. She didn’t know exactly why Wiess was so concerned about it. Well, she had a right to be concerned, but staying up for so long because of it? Even Yang was already asleep. She tried not to think about it as she drifted off into slumber. But sooner or later, she’d have to figure out what to do about what happened with Cinder. And exactly how she felt about it.


	2. Meeting the New Kids

The very next day, she was on her way to lunch with her team. She got the unhealthy meals while Weiss got the salad. Blake (obviously) got some tuna sandwiches. Ruby set her tray down next to Weiss and Yang. Weiss looked at her meal choice disapprovingly. “Are you really going to eat all of that for lunch?”

“Don’t judge me!” she said while stuffing a cookie into her mouth. Weiss could do nothing but roll her eyes. She was supposed to be a team leader. While she had gotten better along the way, she still acted rather childish.

“Come on, Weiss,” Yang chimed in, “she’s been out studying all night. She deserves a treat.” She said this while trying to sneak a cookie away. Everyone noticed.

Well, everyone except Ruby. Her mind immediately went back to the night in the library with Cinder. He legs started closing up as she remembered her warm touch crawling up her thigh. Her intense, burning gaze as she –

“Hello! Earth to Ruby!” Yang snapped her out of her trance.

“Huh, what?”

“I asked you how you think you’ll do on Oobleck’s test today.”

“Oh,” she said as she laughed nervously, “well, you know. I think I’ve got a pretty good shot at it. That’s all you can hope for. Right?” She looked to Weiss for approval, but she seemed more distant. As if she knew something was up. This didn’t do much to help ease her tension.

“Well, I think I’ll be able to ace this one,” Yang stated confidently.

Without hesitating, Blake chimed in by saying, “You got C’s on the last three tests.”

“But I’m getting a higher score each time. I’m telling you, that A is gonna be mine.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“Oh, ye of little faith! If you don’t remember, I had some help from Weiss last night. And she’s pretty much a whiz at this sort of thing. I almost feel bad for Ruby,” she said while playfully elbowing her on the shoulder, “she had to work all on her own.”

“And I did offer to help out,” Wiess added coldly.

Ruby was getting nervous. “Well, I- I wasn’t completely on my own…” she trailed off at the end as she looked down at her lap.

“Oh, really?” Yang asked as she leaned in closer. “So, who was your helper?”

Ruby could sense that Weiss was tensing up. She reverted to her rigid formal demeanor as she continued to eat her salad. She was going to be treading on very thin ice. She already could tell she was angry about turning down help, so the fact that she got help from someone else wasn’t going to go over well.

Blake could sense everything about the situation from the sideline. It seemed that her partner was not able to see it despite being her sister. Still, it was fun to watch. How fun it would be depended on how things played out.

“Uh…” Ruby started, struggling to find the words. “Well… I –”

“Are these seats taken?” they heard from across the table.

Team RWBY looked up and saw the Haven exchange students. It was the green-haired girl who spoke up first. She and the silver-haired guy looked at everyone as they awaited an answer, but Cinder never broke eye-contact with Ruby. Her heart was pumping at a mile a minute. _This isn’t going to end too well._

“Not at all,” Yang stated. “Feel free to sit.”

“Thanks,” the gray-haired boy responded as the exchange students took their seats. Cinder sat directly across from Ruby. _You really want to make this difficult for me_ , Ruby thought, _don’t you, Cinder?_ “Thought we might take some time to meet some people. The only conversation we could get was from those dicks over in CRDL.”

“I know the feeling,” both Blake and Yang said in unison.

“Well, I guess we could introduce ourselves,” the green-haired one started, “well, to the ones we haven’t met.” She looked at Ruby with a playful smirk.

“Yeah,” Ruby started, “Sorry about that whole… running-into-you thing.”

“I told you, it’s fine.”

“You really need to work on first impressions,” Yang commented. She remembered her first meeting with Weiss and nearly blowing her off the cliff.

“Says the girl who beat up everyone in a nightclub,” Blake retorted. Always there with the quick wit.

“Pfft. They had it coming.”

“Awesome!” the boy responded. “Wish I could’ve been there to see it.”

Throughout all of this, Cinder kept her eyes on Ruby. It was almost as if she was trying to melt her with her gaze. Well, that’s one way you could describe it.

“Well, why don’t we give you our names. I’m Emerald. And these are my friends Cinder and Mercury.” Mercury gave a small, casual wave as she said his name. “We’re exchange-students from Haven.”

“Coming in for the festival?” Yang asked.

“You know it!” Merc responded.

“Bet you guys are ready to kick some ass in the tournament.”

“Trust me, the others won’t know what hit them. I mean, it’s all for fun and sport, but you can’t go too easy on your opponents.”

“I like your style, dude!”

“What can I say? I’m a likable guy.”

Emerald laughs. “Yeah right!”

Ruby also noticed that Weiss was unusually quiet throughout all of this. She was distant from the whole conversation. More so than even Blake.

Yang decided to introduce everyone. “Well, I’m Yang. This is Blake,” she said as she put her arm around her, “That’s Weiss over there. And this is my sister –”

“Ruby,” Cinder chimed in. Yang was confused while Ruby froze. She knows Weiss heard it because she was in the middle of getting another bite when her hand stopped in its tracks before the leaves ever left the plate. “I was helping her study last night.”

“Oh,” Yang exclaimed, “so this is who you were with last night?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ruby said nervously. “She… y’know… helped me out.” There was a long pause before she noticed Cinder’s grin growing. And she realized what she said and clumsily added, “with studying! She helped me study.” Though, now she was kind of distracted by the intense, flirtatious look in her eyes.

Without warning, Weiss picked up her tray and left. “Ruby, let’s go,” she said as she pulled Ruby along. The younger girl didn’t protest. But her older sister grabbed her arm.

“Where are you guys going?” Yang asked.

“Outside.”

“Come on! Don’t you want to talk with some other friends?” Yang's insistence was something that increasingly bothered Weiss.

“I’m sure we can find some other people to talk to out there.”

“What’s wrong?” Mercury asked, “You hate us already?”

“With you, that makes sense,” Emerald chimed in. Even he had to admit he walked right into that one.

“No harm in talking to us,” Cinder said, “We’re just getting to know each other.” _Of course,_ you _would say that._

Though, reluctantly, both Weiss and Ruby sat back down. And as they kept talking, Weiss kept a soft scowl on her face as Ruby tried to hide a worrisome expression under nervous laughter. Something told her that this was going to be a _long_ lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering about the main ship, It's primarily a Cinder/Ruby fic, but there are past hints of White Rose. It'll be explained a little more in later chapters.


	3. A Much Needed Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rape warning doesn't concern Ruby and Cinder. It actually concerns a past incident that will be explained in this chapter.

Ruby was hard at work in Oobleck’s class trying to finish her test, she noticed that Yang was falling asleep. She would try to wake her up, but Oobleck would think it was cheating the second she tried it. (Literally _the second_. That man is inhumanly fast.) But she couldn’t compare to the laser-focus that Weiss was having on the test.

As Ruby finished up her test, she looked over to see that Weiss was already finished with hers and hurried over to turn it in. Ruby rushed the last question on her test to be able to catch up. _I’m probably gonna get this one wrong, but I need to get to Weiss right now._

She made it outside the classroom and saw Weiss waiting for Ruby. I guess I didn’t have to chase her down. “There you are,” Weiss says while grabbing her arm. “We’re going back to the room.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby was really confused by Weiss’ rush when…

“Ruby,” Cinder said as she seemed to appear out of nowhere. This slightly startled both Ruby and Weiss.

“Oh! Hey, Cinder.” _Is she a ninja or something?_ , she thought nervously.

“Listen. I was wondering if you’d like to come over to my dorm later. Mercury and Emerald will be out doing other things, so we can have the place to ourselves.” Her fingertips grazed Ruby’s chin. _I’d really appreciate it if you weren’t hitting on me right now._

Weiss slapped Cinder’s hand away reflexively. “She’s not interested.”

“Weiss!” Ruby exclaimed as the white-haired girl pulled her along.

Cinder also grabbed Ruby’s other arm. “I’m sure she can decide for herself.” This was really irritating Weiss and Ruby could tell. “So, what do you say?”

“Uh… well, I’ll… consider it.” Weiss yanked her arm again. “OW!” _Okay, I’d really like to keep that arm, Weiss._

“We’ll be on our way,” Weiss bluntly stated as she pulled Ruby along.

Ruby couldn’t help but turn back and be polite. “See you later!” This only earned another pull from Weiss. Cinder was still smiling even then.

They soon made it to their dorm and Weiss slammed the door shut. “Stay away from her,” she scolded. She didn’t even waste time letting her know.

“Why are you acting like this? You’ve been like this ever since I came home late that night. What did I do? What’s so wrong with Cinder?”

Weiss crossed her arms and sat on her own bed. It took her a moment to finally speak up. “I just don’t trust her. Okay? Something about her doesn’t sit well with me.”

“But, there’s nothing going on!”

“Well, she clearly has some different ideas!” she shouted. “I saw the way she looked at you. In fact, she was only looking at you. So, you tell me, Ruby Rose. Would you call that nothing?”

“Weiss… are you… jealous?” They weren’t in a relationship, but they did hook up before. It was a safe assumption to say that Weiss might have been developing feelings. She had never seen a jealous Weiss before. It seemed pretty new to Weiss. _I mean, after all, she was with Neptune (or at least trying to be)._

“Of course not!” She shouted defensively.

“Then what is it?!”

Weiss didn’t respond. Instead, she looked down at her bed holding her arm. “Do you remember our first time?”

Indeed, she did. She remembered it quite fondly. The night they lost their virginities to each other. She had never seen Weiss so affectionate. So gentle. And yet, so passionate. Almost ruined by Blake and Yang walking in on them just after they had finished. Yang seemed excited that her little sister was growing up. Blake (much like everyone else) just wanted to be out of the awkward situation they found themselves in.

It was also the night that Ruby came out to her. She already knew Weiss was bi since she was pretty open about it. But only Yang knew Ruby was gay. Not even their dad knew yet. They were sure he wouldn’t mind, but Ruby was still figuring it out for herself. He probably wouldn’t be as happy to know that she had sex, but there’s no reason to let him know that. Not yet at least.

Ruby smiled. “Yeah… it was amazing.” _But what does this have to do with anything?_

“Look, this isn’t something… it isn’t something I forget easily. You know I’ve had a really crappy relationship with my dad… and I know there would be hell to pay if he found out. But… I wanted you to be comfortable. I’m not saying that I had any personal experience, but I was more comfortable with myself. You were new to this. And you needed someone who would be able to guide you through it. Some to… someone to care about you.”

“Where are you going with this?”

Weiss sighed loudly at her impatience. “I don’t know what it is with Cinder, but something tells me she doesn't have any of that in mind. I just… don’t want you to be hurt. She is a senior after all. And you’re technically not even a freshman.”

“Well… I’ll be fine. You don’t need to watch over me. I can be careful.”

“Dammit, Ruby!” Weiss exclaimed before calming herself down. “She invited you over to her dorm. When she’ll be alone. Do you really think she’s going to be your study buddy?”

“What are you talking about?”

She looked down pondering something before patting the space next to her. Ruby knew what it meant and walked over there and sat down next to Weiss.

“When my sister Winter went to Beacon… she got involved with one of the seniors. She acted like Winter was a friend. They hung out together, studied together, sparred together, even ate lunch together.” It was the studying and lunch that caught Ruby’s attention. She had realized that’s what Cinder had done. And she didn’t like where this was going. “Though, she always had to take her away from her team. She always wanted to be alone with her. Then, one day, that senior invited her over. With none of her teammates around in the dorm. She said they could be alone… and that’s when the girl forced a kiss on her.”

Ruby tried to refrain from audibly gasping, but she just felt her heart sink. _Oh, no..._ “My sister tried to stop her. Say she wasn’t interested. Or lied and said she didn’t swing that way. It didn’t stop her. And… it only got worse…” At this point, Ruby could clearly tell exactly what happened.

“And when she told me this story, she started… crying. It was the first time I had seen my sister cry. Not even being beaten by my father would make her shed a tear. I caught her when she thought no one was looking and she didn’t cry.” Weiss sighed. “I knew this was painful for her. And I know she couldn’t tell my father about it. Mom wouldn’t care either. So, she told me. It was one of the first things she told me before heading to Beacon. She didn’t want me getting hurt the way she did.

“Look,” Weiss said, “I know you can take care of yourself… but I can’t let you go over there. Despite what you all may think, I care about you. Even if it isn’t in _that_ way, I… I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

Ruby had a faint smile. “Aw, Weiss,” she said before giving her a hug. Weiss was less than thrilled about it, but she ultimately returned the hug. “Look, I’ll be fine. Like you said, I can take care of myself. And I’m not gonna let anything like that happen.”

Weiss smiled, but it was evident that there was pain behind it. She then leaned in to kiss Ruby. “I hope not.”

“I thought you said you didn’t like me that way,” Ruby said referring to the kiss.

“I don’t… but I just wanted to do that anyways. If you go into that room, don’t let her force you into anything.”

“I won’t.”

“And… Please don’t tell anyone this story. I don’t want Winter to know I told anyone.”

Ruby smiled. “Your secret is safe with me.” Her smile shrank before saying, “And I’m really sorry for what happened to your sister.”

“You don’t need to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope I handled that backstory properly. I'm honestly apprehensive about including it, so go easy on me. I will say that I might edit later if I think of something that works better.


	4. First "Date"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby spends the night in Cinder's dorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll be getting some more of the sexy stuff in this chapter. (And for those still concerned, it's not gonna be rape.)

Ruby walked over to the exchange student dorms about to meet up with Cinder. She had told Weiss that’s what was going on. While she didn’t like it, she didn’t protest when Ruby said she wanted to go. And hopefully, she wouldn’t make Weiss regret letting her go.

But it did seem a bit suspicious. Her roommates were out, so it would just be the two of them. It certainly seems like a setup for something. But the real question was… was she hoping for something to happen? Cinder was beautiful. One of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen. But she really didn’t feel right about this.

 _I mean, she is a senior and I’m a freshman_ , she thought, _but not even a freshman. Just skipped ahead. But she wouldn’t force herself on me, right? She did stop in the library when I had to go. Though it was a library. She probably couldn’t get too far anyway. But she got as far as she did. And it didn’t seem like she was going to stop if I hadn’t. So maybe she only waits for the no-go signal. Or maybe that now we’re alone, she won’t have to worry about risking it…_

Ruby went through so much mental gymnastics about what Cinder would do that she ended up making it to Cinder’s room before she could finish her thoughts. _Well, I guess I’ll find out now Here goes nothing…._ She tentatively knocked on the door and awaited Cinder to open it. Cinder opened it up to reveal she was topless. (Well, she was wearing a bra, but still.) Ruby’s face went red as a beet when she saw that.

“Hello, Ruby,” Cinder said nonchalantly as if she wasn’t standing around in just a bra. “Sorry about this,” gesturing to her torso. _Why do I get the feeling she’s doing it on purpose?_  "I just got back and was getting changed.”

“Oh! No, no, no, no, no, no,” she rapidly fired off, flustered as ever. “It’s fine. It’s cool. No harm done. Everything is A-Okay…” Ruby realized how much of a dork she seemed like in this moment and froze. _Smooth one, Ruby._

Cinder simply chuckled and let her in. “You’re so cute,” she said. “Then I guess you don’t mind if I get changed while you're here.”

“Uh…” She really didn’t know how to respond to that. Cinder was way too comfortable with her body for Ruby’s comfort right now. “…I guess not…”

Cinder pulled off her stockings and skirt to reveal the matching panties. Cinder removed her bra revealing a black tattoo on her back. “What’s that for?” she asked.

Cinder turned around and faced Ruby, making the latter even more nervous. “The tattoo? Oh, it’s nothing.” What _wasn’t_ nothing was the fact that she could now see Cinder’s fully exposed breasts right in front of her. _Well, this didn’t take long._

Thankfully, she turned back around so she didn’t have to look for long. Really, it wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the view. She just seemed to know what Cinder was doing. Even if that wasn’t it, it did have that effect. Ruby could barely keep her eyes off of Cinder’s butt as she bent over (likely on purpose) to grab a shirt. After putting it on, she walked over back to Ruby. “So, what do you want to do tonight?” she said. “I have some of Mercury’s video games that he left behind so we can play those. We can watch some movies. Or I can help you study some more.”

Now Ruby was distracted by the fact that Cinder decided not to wear pants. She was feeling heat from between her legs and crossed them out of embarrassment. “Uh, well…” she started, “…I’d like to play some of those video games… If you want.”

Cinder started smirking again as her hand went up Ruby’s thigh. “Or… we could do something else…” And Ruby knew exactly what else it was.

Ruby shoved her hand away. “I- I definitely want to play some games.” She then caught herself and immediately added, “ **Video games!** I want to play **video** games!”

Cinder loved how flustered she was making Ruby. That much was written plainly on her face. “Relax. We don’t have to go there if you don’t want to. I’ll go see what we have.” With that, she left to go search through the games. This made Ruby feel more at ease, but she’d still feel a little less flustered if Cinder would put on some pants… and if she didn’t keep bending over to get stuff. _Why did the games have to be so low down on the shelf?_ “How about this one?”

Cinder held up the video game and Ruby immediately got excited. “You have _Kung-Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle II_?! That’s my favorite!”

“Then it’s settled,” Cinder said with a smile. “We’re playing this one.”

“Well, just so you know. I am a pro, so I may be at an unfair advantage. Just wanted to let you know.” Ruby was so excited about the game that she forgot about what she was worried about earlier almost instantly. She pulled out her scroll as Cinder loaded up the game.

“I guess we’ll see about that,” Cinder replied.

Ruby was confident that she could beat Cinder but after about ten rounds, Ruby had only won two of them. Cinder was much better at this game than she thought. “Wow, you must have a lot of time to play.”

“I guess I’m just a natural at this.” Cinder shrugged as she started the next round.

“Oh, you’re so going down this next round.” Ruby had her game face on. She was determined to at least match the number of Cinder’s wins.

She started off good, but Cinder was able to pull out her special move and take down most of Ruby’s health. That left her wide open to be killed if she made one wrong move. Fortunately, Ruby was thinking quickly this time and actually managed to beat Cinder this round. “YES! In your face!”

“Well, even I must admit that was a rather impressive win.”

“I know, right,” she said, trying to come off as cool. Mostly, it came off as adorable.

“Well, I think we’ve played enough rounds for now.”

“Aw! Come on. I could go all night.”

Cinder smiled. “I’m sure you could, but I kind of wanted to talk.”

 _Oh. That feeling I was feeling when I got in here? Suddenly it’s back._ Ruby’s face got paler when she mentioned this. “Okay,” she replied. “What do you want to talk about?”

“What’s going on between you and Weiss?”

“W- what do you mean?”

“Well, I know she’s your partner, but… is there anything more to it than that?”

There was a long pause before Ruby asked, “Why do you wanna know?” _Trying to figure out if I’m available?... Well, I guess I kinda am…_

Cinder got closer to Ruby. “No harm in asking, is there?”

“I guess not,” Ruby hesitated. She tried to regain composure. “No, there’s nothing romantic going on if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Odd. From the other night, I got the impression that you liked girls.”

Ruby chuckled. “Well, I do, but… Weiss and I aren’t together like that.” _Not anymore…_

“Not anymore.” Now Ruby was just freaked out. Her face ran cold because it seemed like Cinder was reading her mind. “Here’s what I think. Maybe it was some romantic fling or friends with benefits and soon, you two decided to break it off since things were better for you that way. Am I wrong?”

Not wrong at all. In fact, she was more or less spot on. “Well, yeah… I guess you could say that…”

“So, Ruby,” she started while her eyes became more alluring, “what about me is making you so nervous about… having some fun?”

“Uhhh…” Ruby really didn’t know how to respond to that.

“I won’t force you to do anything if that’s what you’re worried about.” That eased Ruby’s concerns. Still, she had the feeling that Cinder was doing something. Maybe she wasn’t forcing her, but she was trying to… persuade her into agreeing. It didn’t sit well with one part of her. The other part… well, let’s just say that it was certainly being convinced to take up the offer.

“Heh. Thanks. I guess…” She kept averting eye-contact with Cinder.

“Tell you what,” she said. Ruby finally looked up. “What about just a kiss? If you don’t like it, we’ll stop there.” The blood drained from Ruby’s face leaving her ashen with embarrassment.

“I… I guess…” _Should I really do it? I mean, she’s really beautiful and… it’s not like she is forcing me… Oh, why do I feel like this is leading me into a trap?_ After being conflicted, Ruby simply looked at Cinder and decided. “Okay.”

Cinder leans in for the kiss. Her lips meet Ruby’s tentatively. Ruby froze and was instantly flustered. Butterflies filled her stomach and she felt like she was in the stars. It was like her mouth was on fire with the sensation from her lips. But it felt all too good. Then Cinder pulled away and that feeling dropped faster than she did in her last battle.  “That wasn’t so bad, was it, Ruby?”

 _I… I…_ Ruby was so flustered, she couldn’t even come up with a straight thought (no pun intended). She couldn’t figure out what it was, but something about that kiss felt so orgasmic. So intense. Almost as if she was under some spell. Instead of talking, Ruby let her instincts fly and pounced on Cinder. She began kissing her ferociously as Cinder matched her intensity. Ruby held her close, feeling the warmth of Cinder’s body as she pressed up against it.

Cinder then picked the young woman up and pushed her back onto the bed while still kissing her intensely. She opens the jacket of her uniform to reveal Ruby’s polka dot bra. Cinder chuckles. “How adorable.” Ruby felt her face go red once again. Cinder seemed to have that effect on her. Cinder started by kissing her belly and moving up. Ruby loved the sensation of Cinder’s lips on her skin. From there, she removed Ruby’s jacket as soon as she reached her lips and tossed it to the side in a manner that almost said, “you won’t be needing this anymore.” Next was Ruby’s bra. Cinder gingerly unclasped it from behind as she kept kissing Ruby’s neck.

Soon enough, Ruby’s flatter chest was exposed to Cinder. She felt the heat of embarrassment now that Cinder had seen her topless, but all she did was smile. Cinder evened things out and removed her own shirt. Now that Ruby wasn’t trying to avoid the view, she could enjoy the older student’s modestly sized breasts. And she was loving it. “Feel free to touch if you want,” Cinder said. She leaned in closer to whisper, “They’re all yours tonight.”

Feeling Cinder’s hot breath on her ear sent shivers down her spine and she was quickly growing more and more aroused. _Yeah, I definitely want this!_ Ruby took her up on the offer to cop a feel. She even sucked on the nipples while she heard Cinder’s breathing grow heavier. Cinder reached down and started rubbing Ruby’s crotch. She was already moist with anticipation. Even the slightest touch got a small moan out of her. Cinder moved down once again as she removed Ruby’s tights and skirt. As Cinder’s head fell between her thighs, Ruby already knew she was going to love this.

* * *

Cinder held Ruby in her arms as she calmly stroked her hair. Both of them naked now, Ruby snuggled closer to Cinder’s chest. “So, did you enjoy yourself, Ruby?” Cinder finally asked. _That’s one way you could put it_ , Ruby thought. Though all she did was nod against the senior’s chest.

Ruby’s scroll suddenly went off and she leaped for it as her mind suddenly remembered her team must be wondering what’s going on. She looked at the caller ID and sees Weiss’s face on it. But Cinder moved the scroll back down on the nightstand. “Don’t worry about it,” she said as she went for another kiss.

“But… my team… they’re wondering…” She managed to get only a few words in at a time at most with Cinder making out with her. The scroll rang again louder. This time, it was Yang’s face who was waiting for a response. As much as Ruby enjoyed the make-out session, she went an answered the call. Something that slightly annoyed Cinder.

“Hey, Yang,” she nervously spat out. “What’s going on, you guys?”

“Ruby, where are you right now?” There wasn’t a hint of jokiness in her voice as there usually was. She knew Yang was incredibly worried.

“Uh… Weiss didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?!”

Cinder snatched the phone out of Ruby’s hand. “She’s a little busy right now, but you’re more than welcome to come over if you want. I’m sure little Ruby will enjoy playing with me for a little while longer.”

“Who the hell is –” Cinder hung up the scroll and left it back on the nightstand.

“Why’d you do that?!” Ruby shouted.

“Don’t worry about them,” Cinder purred while caressing the young girl’s cheek. “You have me right now.”

Cinder went in for another kiss before being pushed away. She was a little peeved about that but still allowed her to make the call. Ruby called Yang and **immediately** started explaining herself. “Yang! I’m sorry I got carried away. I know it’s late but –”

“Ruby!” Yang yelled. A pause that felt like a whole minute to Ruby, but was only a second passed. “Why didn’t you were getting laid tonight?!” Suddenly, Yang’s tone was much happier. Ruby really didn’t know how to respond.

“Uh…”

“I mean, you hooked up with **Cinder** of all people? I mean, she’s smokin’ hot, so I don’t blame you.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Well, I think Weiss looks like she wants to say something to you. She’s been eyeballing me for a while now, so I’m just gonna pass it to her.” _Oh, no…_

Soon, she heard Weiss’ panicked voice over the scroll. “Are you okay?!”

“Yes, Weiss. I’m fine.”

“She didn’t… I mean, Yang said –”

“I wasn’t forced into anything. It’s fine.”

She heard her sigh over the scroll. “Okay. Okay. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back over to the room in a little bit.”

“No, don’t bother. It’s a Friday. It doesn’t matter too much. Just... make sure you come back tomorrow. Okay?”

She was surprised to hear Weiss allowing her to stay over there. But that feeling was interrupted by Yang loudly yelling, “Ooh! The Ice Queen’s heart has finally melted!”

“Shut up, Xiao Long!” Weiss replied. _Oh, Yang…_

“I’ll be back soon,” Ruby replied. “I promise.”

“Okay. I... I’ll see you later.”

It wasn’t long until Yang’s voice came back over the scroll. “Anyway, sis, I hope you have fun! And since it's Friday, don't worry about losing sleep tonight.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. She could already see Yang’s smirk and cocked eyebrow when she said that. “Goodnight, Yang.” After that, she hung up. Ruby loudly sighed as she turned back to Cinder laying on the bed.

“So,” Cinder began, “I guess your teammates are fine with our little gettogether?” She grabbed Ruby’s wrist and pulled her back into bed. “That means we have much more time to enjoy ourselves.” Cinder pulled her into a kiss. Reluctantly, Ruby kissed back. _No harm in going for a second round, right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering, the feeling from Cinder's kiss that Ruby had was from the Maiden's powers. Not a literal spell, but just something that makes the feeling more intense. I had mentioned it in "Will She Ever Love Me?" with Emerald. It's literally the heat from her powers. (For anyone expecting some poetic explanation of the feeling Ruby got, I'm not much of a romantic, so sorry for ruining that for you.)


	5. Complicated Emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to make this more of an AU scenario. The events I have in mind deviate from canon too much to keep it in the main storyline. Also, fair warning as this will bring up Winter's assault briefly.

Cinder had her hand around Ruby’s waist as she took her back to the dorm. She was wearing a pair of Cinder’s sweatpants and a T-shirt that she borrowed that were definitely too big for her. Cinder insisted that she not wear the same clothes that she arrived in. Though it almost felt like it was too obvious that they had sex the night before. _I mean, I honestly might as well be walking around naked with her._

She didn’t need to take Ruby back to her dorm. She offered, and after the night they shared and her general personality, she didn’t want to decline the offer. _It’s nice and all, but it would be nice if her hand didn’t trail down to my butt on the way. I think she just likes teasing me at this point._

They soon arrived at Team RWBY’s dorm. “Thank you, Cinder,” Ruby nervously said as she looked for her room key, “But I can take it from here.”

“Are you sure about that?” Cinder’s voice was always so alluring. “I was wondering if I could stay and chat with your friends for a little bit.” _Really? Can’t I just deal with my team on my own?_

“Uh… I appreciate it, but I think it’s best you head back to your room.” Ruby had just unlocked the door when she said that.

This gave Cinder the opportunity to open the door for her. “I insist,” she responded as she opens the door. _I really can’t stop her, can I?_

They were then greeted by the sight of Blake on the verge of orgasm while Yang was under the covers. As soon as Blake noticed, she was startled to be caught in such a state. “Ruby! I… didn’t expect you to be back by now… Especially not with company…”

“Well,” Cinder began, “I guess you’re not the only amorous member of your team.” She chuckled to herself as Ruby nervously did the same.

Yang popped her head out and sees Ruby, completely undeterred. “Ruby!” she exclaimed with a smile on her face. She then looks beside her sister. “And Cinder.” Yang hops out of the bed, ripping the blanket off of her and Blake. Blake quickly pulls the cover back over with a red face. “I hope you’ve been treating my sister right.”

Cinder put her arms around Ruby from behind. “Oh, I can assure you of that.” Ruby’s face was almost as red as Blake’s.

Yang laughed along with Cinder. “That’s good!” Her face then becomes serious, “but just so you know, if you do anything to hurt my sister, you **will** be sorry.”

“Yang,” Ruby bemoaned.

“What?! I gotta make sure my baby-sis doesn’t get hurt. It’s big sibling policy.” Yang put her arm around Ruby’s neck playfully. Ruby could do nothing but nervously laugh. _Please let this all be over soon._

“Well, I guess I should be heading back to my dorm,” Cinder noted. “I’ll be seeing you around, Ruby.” She kissed her on the cheek before leaving with a smirk. Ruby couldn’t help but blush.

As Yang slipped under the covers once again, Blake spoke up. “I don’t know about her, Ruby.”

Ruby turned to Blake. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know… she just gives me a bad feeling.”

“Well, she can be a little… y’know… but she’s fine. I know I was nervous, but there’s nothing wrong.”

“Jeez, Blake,” Yang interjected. “You sound just like Weiss.”

“Speaking of which, where is she? I wanted to talk to her.”

Blake expected this. “She’s out in the courtyard. She said she needed some time to clear her head. But I don’t think you should really be bothering her.”

“What do you mean?”

Yang said, “She seemed a little bothered by you hanging out with Cinder.”

“Yang, you were on the phone with her. She said she was fine.”

“After you hung up,” Blake added, “she seemed a bit worried about you. I don’t know. I think you should just leave it be.”

Forget that. Ruby ran right out to the courtyard. Neglecting to change into some different clothes.

She made it out and saw Weiss with headphones, reading a book. Okay. I gotta do this carefully. She slowly and quietly crept over to Weiss to be sure to not disturb her.

“What do you want, Ruby?” Weiss asks. Ruby stopped dead in her tracks not but a meter away. Are you kidding me?!

“How did you know it was me?!”

“You weren’t very subtle, and I figured it was either you or Jaune. And since I made sure that no one told him where I was, it had to be you.”

Ruby took a seat with Weiss. “So… are you doing alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said bluntly. “I told you last night, I’m fine. What gave you the impression I’m not?”

“Well… Blake and Yang told me you were still a little… upset by me being at Cinder’s.”

Weiss sighed and shut the book. “Look, I’m not jealous if that’s what you think it is.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure! What makes you think that?”

Ruby looked away for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. “Do you… do you still have feelings for me?”

“I told you, I’m not –“

“I’m not talking about being jealous. I’m asking if you still have feelings for me. I know you’re just trying to make sure I’m not hurt and want the best for me. But is it because you actually love me?”

As much as Weiss would hate to admit it, Ruby was kind of right. She still had some feelings for Ruby. But she wasn’t going to let it get to her.

“Look,” Weiss began, “if you were with some nice girl who didn’t… honestly, creep me out, I wouldn’t care. If you were happy and it wouldn’t end badly, I was fine. But Cinder isn’t that. She… I don’t know what her deal is.”

“But she’s nice. She didn’t try to force anything on me.”

“Just because you agreed to sex once doesn’t mean she’s not still going to try something later. Unless she can prove to me that I have no reason to worry, I’m still going to do so. Do you understand that?”

Ruby nervously gripped the hem of the large T-shirt. “Yeah… I get it.”

“I just want you to be happy. If not with me, then with someone who **will** take care of you. Just be careful with her.”

Ruby nodded and walked away. “See you in the dorm,” she flatly said.

With that, she was gone. But Weiss suddenly got a call on her scroll. She picked it up and saw it was Winter. She opened it up. “Winter!”

“Hello, Weiss,” Winter responded.

“It’s good to see you. I saw that you’re seeing someone.”

“A civilian doctor.” Winter smiled, something Weiss rarely got to see. “She asked me out and I had some free time. I thought I might as well since being in the military kinda kills your dating life. I invited her over to my place, one thing led to another and…”

“I think I get what you mean.” Both the Schnee sisters laughed.

“I’m hoping we’ll get a second date, but considering both of our professions, that’ll be a while. But I look forward to it.”

“Sounds like she’s stolen your heart.”

“Yeah, she’s… really something.”

Weiss noticed a change in Winter’s demeanor. “You don’t seem enthused.”

“No, she’s great. I was just… thinking about that time… again…”

Weiss knew exactly what she meant. “Are the nightmares back?”

Winter sighed. “You really shouldn’t be worried about me.”

“You don’t need to hold it down, Winter. Just talk to me. Was it something that happened?”

“I just…” Winter tried not to have a panic attack thinking about what happened. “She invited me over to her place first. I honestly froze and then insisted we go to mine.”

“She doesn’t sound like she’d do anything.”

“That’s not the point, Weiss! I couldn’t even be invited over without freezing up. Every time I think things are better, something just… triggers it and… it’s back to that night.” Even over the video chat, Weiss could feel her sister’s pain. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to make this so… depressing.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that. If you need to talk, just talk.”

Winter was silent as she looked away. But she came back on topic. “How are things going at Beacon.”

Weiss saw what she was doing, but she let her change the topic. She didn’t want to press the issue. “Things are going well. My training has been progressing marvelously.”

“I hope to see the results of that soon.”

“You will in the tournament. I promise.”

Winter smiled. “And what about your dating life? Seeing anyone else or are you still looking?”

Weiss wanted to tell her about Ruby and Cinder, to ask for advice, but seeing how her sister reacted earlier, she couldn’t bear to open up the old wounds. “I’m… still single at the moment. I was seeing someone, but… she’s with someone else now.”

“Sounds like you’re jealous.”

Weiss snapped, “Why does everyone keep insisting on that?!”

“Wow, it’s worse than I thought," she playfully added. "You’re in denial.”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Schnee!” a male voice said from in the distance.

Winter turned back to her scroll. “Lucky you. It seems I don’t have time to pry. But I’ll call you soon. Okay?”

Weiss was thankful she didn’t have to explain the situation for now at least. “Yes. That would be lovely.” She smiled as she waved to her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Winter replied, returning a smile. “Take care of yourself.”

The scroll hung up and she placed it back in her pocket with a sigh. _It’s not **me** that I’m worried about._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, I portrayed Winter's trauma properly. If not, I apologize and I'll do what I can to fix it.


	6. Friends of Friends

After changing into her own clothes, Ruby sat with Yang in their dorm and she continually asked more about her “date” with Cinder. Continually asking a lot of sex questions about her and Cinder. _Jeez. I really need a sibling that’s much less interested in my sex life._ “Yang,” she griped, “can you please stop? I don’t wanna talk much about it.”

“Yeah, sure. Sure,” Yang says. “But just one more question. Does she shave her pubes? I’m just curious.”

_Ugh._ Just as Yang asked this, Blake entered the room once again. “Blake! Make Yang stop asking me sex questions!”

She smiles and sits next to Yang. “If you want that,” she says, “you might want to leave the room.” Her hand finds its way to Yang’s breast. Yang bites her lip and blushes in response. “Why don’t we go get something to eat.”

“I could think of a few things to eat,” Yang said with a smirk. Ruby and Blake rolled their eyes. Blake took her out of the room. Ruby laid back on the bed and stretched out her limbs. _I like hanging out with people, but it’s nice to get some time to myself._

That’s when she heard her scroll buzz. She picked it up and saw a text from Cinder. All it said was, “I hope u enjoy these. ;) <3” _Enjoy what?_ She raised an eyebrow at the text wondering what she meant. It didn’t take long to find out. Cinder sent a picture of herself in front of a mirror wearing some dark crimson lingerie. _Wow…_ Her hand went over her mouth reflexively and she started blushing immediately.

It wasn’t long before Cinder was sending more pictures of herself showing off different angles of her body. _She really is forward._ She was becoming more aroused with each photo she sent. She was surprised to realize that her hand had unconsciously made its way down to her crotch. While she was initially startled, she remembered that she was alone. _I guess… rubbing one out wouldn’t hurt…_

She slipped her hand down her pants and started rubbing herself while thumbing through the gallery. Ruby bit her lip as she felt more pleasure building up.

Unfortunately for her, that was interrupted by Weiss coming into the room. Ruby jumped as she saw her, and Weiss simply stared. “What are you doing?” Weiss asked.

“Uh…” _What do I say?_ “Masturbating?” she said with an innocent shrug. _I mean, she doesn’t have to know it was Cinder._

“Okay…” She accepted the answer, but only for convenience sake. “Have you seen my hairbrush?” As she started looking she had a thought. “You didn’t use it to –“

“NO!” Ruby shouted. She knew exactly what she meant.

“Just making sure.” She went back to rummaging through her stuff. “But, by all means, don’t let me stop you.”

Ruby looked over the bed at Weiss. “You know… you could always help me out with it. If you really want to.”

“As much as I appreciate the offer, I really don’t have time.”

“It’s a Saturday. What could you possibly be doing?”

“I have to be somewhere in about twenty minutes and I really just need to make myself look presentable.”

“Is this ‘somewhere’ a hot date you haven’t told me about?” she teased.

“That is none of your business.” _It is._ Ruby smiled cheekily and went back up to her bunk. Weiss pulled out the hairbrush from a pile of her clothes. As Weiss rushed out to the bathroom, Ruby picked up her scroll again while looking through Cinder’s photos. But she got another message.

“Merc and Em wanna hang out. R U in?” Ruby bit her lip. Well… I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I’m not really doing anything…

She types in the message “Can do!”

Cinder sent another text a few minutes later, “Meet us at the entrance.”

Ruby responds, “I’ll b there l8r.” She didn’t go right away because she still had Cinder’s pictures to go through. _Might as well get it out of my system now._ She loaded the pictures once again and kept rubbing herself, becoming more aroused as she went. _Yeah, I **definitely** need this._

* * *

 Ruby went out to the courtyard of the school and saw the trio of exchange students waiting for her. She ran over to them. “Hey!” she called out. And all of them turned to her. Cinder had her trademark smirk. Emerald became more cheerful, but Mercury didn’t react much.

“Ruby.” Cinder said. She pulled Ruby closer for a kiss. And not a simple peck. She went for full-on making out with Ruby. And shamelessly so. This shocked both Mercury and Emerald, but neither was more shocked than Ruby. Really?! Shoving your tongue down my throat ten seconds after seeing me? Cinder broke the kiss. “So glad you can make it.”

She shifted nervously as she put her hands behind her back and blushed. “Oh, well… I didn’t have much to do anyway, so…”

“Don’t be so bashful,” Cinder said as she put her hand on the small of Ruby’s back – something that only made her more nervous. What is it with her and invading my personal space? “We’re all friends here.”

“You know,” Mercury started, “to be honest, she seems a little young for you. Isn’t she?” Emerald elbows his shoulder for his comment. However, all Ruby could only think, Well, he might not be wrong.

“Excuse him,” Emerald said. “He doesn’t know any better.”

Ruby chuckled. “I’m pretty sure you and my sister would get along.”

“The blonde with the big tits?” Mercury said without hesitation.

“Mercury!” Emerald shouted.

But even Ruby had to admit it was pretty funny. She giggled as Cinder chuckled. “They’re quite the pair, aren’t they?” Ruby had to admit that she liked them a lot. “Mercury, can I talk to you for a second? It’s about something important.”

Mercury shrugged. “Sure.”

He walked over to Cinder and she took him aside. “We’ll be just a minute. Why don’t you and Emerald get to know each other a little more.”

Ruby sat down next to Emerald on the fountain. “So,” Ruby began, “have you guys known each other for a long time?”

“Ugh,” Emerald groaned, “Mercury for too long. But I actually met Cinder first. It’s just that he’s quite the handful to deal with at once.”

“Like I said, he and Yang would get along quite well. I kinda assumed you guys had known each other a while.”

“Well, he’s not as bad as he seems. Just…” Emerald contemplated what to say about him.

“Lacking in impulse control?”

“I guess you could say that.” They both laughed.

“So… are you guys, like… ‘together’ together or…”

“Oh, hell no!” Emerald reflexively said. “Definitely not getting involved in a train wreck like that.”

“Funny,” Mercury said as he and Cinder returned. “And I thought we might’ve made a great couple, but it’s your loss.” His smirk never left his face.

But Emerald simply gritted her teeth. “You see what I mean, Ruby?”

“Oh please, I’m sure she can see that I’m great, right?”

“Actually,” Ruby sheepishly said, “I’m only into girls. Sorry.”

Emerald laughed, “Foiled again, Merc.”

“Oh, whatever,” he said.

“Anyway,” Cinder interrupted, “I was thinking that the four of us could go for a little sparring. Just some friendly matchups to practice before the tournament.”

Ruby was excited about that. She loved to get involved in some action. Who knows? Maybe I can beat at least one of them. ‘That would be awesome!”

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go find a place we can fight.” As Mercury and Emerald went forward, Cinder put her hand around Ruby’s waist again. “By the way,” she whispered, “did you enjoy the photos I sent you earlier?”

Ruby started to blush again. She just had to bring it up now, didn’t she? “Oh, uh, yeah. I did… enjoy them,” she said with a nervous smile. That’s one way to put it…

Cinder smiled and kissed her on the nose. “I knew you would.” Ruby was glad that she was going to be sparring with her. If it meant not dealing with all the touching. She may have liked it in other circumstances, but PDA wasn’t exactly her thing.

* * *

 The four of them found an open yard to fight in just outside of campus. Mercury and Ruby were up first. They both stood across from each other while Emerald and Cinder watched them. “Alright,” Emerald said. “The rules are no weapons and no Semblances. The first person on the ground loses. Try not to hurt each other too much.”

Mercury cracked his knuckles with a smirk on his face. He was ready to go. Ruby went into a fighting stance as she put her game-face on. Okay. I got this.

“Ready,” Cinder called out. Mercury and Ruby prepared for the battle. “Fight!”

Ruby rushed forward and went to punch Mercury, but he quickly and effortlessly blocked each one. After the barrage of punches, he blindsided her by catching her with a right-cross. She was pushed back and held her face. She looked up and Mercury was still smiling. Grr. Okay, he’s a bit tougher than I thought. After recovering, she ran up again and he started punching. She was faster and more alert to block him.

She reeled back for a punch and Mercury held up both hands to block it, but Ruby jumped over him and spun around to kick him in the back. Got him! She went for more strikes, but he spun around and kicked her hard in the chest. She was flung backward and fell flat on her back. She groaned as she tried to get up.

“First round goes to Mercury,” Cinder said. Ruby got off the ground, wiped the dust off her clothes and got ready to fight again. He’s tougher than I thought. “Ready…” Oh, yeah. I’m ready. “Fight!”

Both Ruby and Mercury slowly circle around each other waiting to get their opening. While she kept her hands up ready for an attack, Mercury casually kept his hands to his side and a smirk on his face. Oh, I’m gonna wipe that thing on his face.

Mercury was the first to attack by going for a kick to the face. She was able to block it, but she was having trouble keeping up with the barrage of kicks he was giving. She tried to flip him by catching his leg. He almost fell on his face when she did, but he pushed himself up before he could even touch the ground. He jumped up to his feet as if nothing happened and brushed his shoulder. And when Ruby went to kick him, Mercury used her own trick against her more successfully. And she was on the ground within moments. The irony was not lost on her.

“Come on, Merc,” Emerald said. “Go easy on her at least.”

“I am going easy on her,” he said.

As Ruby pushed herself up while groaning. “This is **easy**?!”

“I’m trying to make the fight more interesting.”

She sighed. “I’ve gotta say, you’re pretty good.”

“I know. It’s almost scary.”

“Arrogance is unbecoming of you,” Cinder said. He merely glared at her as if to say, “You’re one to talk.”

“Why don’t I have a shot at it?” Emerald said. She walked over and pulled him to the side to talk to him. Ruby went to sit with Cinder as the two prepared to fight.

“Are you doing alright?” Cinder said to Ruby.

“About as well as I can for getting my butt kicked.”

“Mercury is a skilled fighter.” Yeah, no kidding. “Most opponents wouldn’t know what happened by the time they’re defeated.”

“Do you think Emerald can beat him?”

Cinder put her arm around Ruby’s shoulder. At this point, Ruby was expecting it. “We’ll see.” She looked up at Mercury and Emerald. “Ready… fight!”

Mercury used his barrage of kicks, but Emerald seemed to be having an easier time blocking them. Emerald attacked him with a few punches that he blocked easily. She kicked him in the side to distract him and got him once in the face. “Come on, Merc. You don’t want me to kick your ass in front of our new friend, do you?”

Mercury dropped his smile and glared at her. Ruby got a bad feeling. When Emerald went for her attack, Mercury spun around and kicked her in the abdomen. However, a shot was fired as and knocked her back even further than he did to Ruby.

“Whoa!” Ruby exclaimed as she jumped up to Emerald’s aid. Cinder walked toward him as he got closer to Emerald. “Emerald, are you okay?”

Her Aura was nearly depleted, and she groaned as she got back up. “Dick move, Merc.”

“I thought we were clear that there were to be no weapons.” Cinder calmly said.

He shrugged and simply sad, “My bad.”

As Ruby held Emerald up, she notices something. “Wait. You have guns attached to your leg?” Now she was excited. She felt bad about Emerald, but she was all about weapons. “Can I see them?!”

“No can do. I don’t want anyone messing them up.”

“Come on, just a look.”

“Maybe we should worry about Emerald first,” Cinder said. “You guys take a rest and let us do a bit of sparring.”

Ruby took Emerald to the sidelines. They both sat down and watched Mercury and Cinder prepared to fight. “Ready,” Ruby started, “…fight!”

She watched Cinder fight and it was so graceful. She not a foot out of place. She even leaped into the air and kicked him from above. He kept himself from falling by getting his hands behind his back, but he stumbled as he got back on his feet. _Wow. She’s really good._ Ruby looked in awe as she saw Cinder fight. Ruby was no match and Emerald could only barely keep up. Cinder made a fight with him look effortless. She kept blocking his barrages of kicks while keeping her smirk.

The fight went on for a while with neither one seeming to be closer to losing, so Emerald called it there. "Okay, guys. As entertaining as this is, I think that we can call it a draw."

Mercury sighed. "That's a shame. This fight was actually interesting."

"Mercury," Cinder said, "I think that our little gems did a wonderful job. Especially you, Ruby."

She giggled nervously at the compliment, "Well, I did try my best."

Cinder chuckles as she places a hand on Ruby's cheek. "She's adorable, isn't she." She takes her closer and kisses her.

Emerald looked at the time of her scroll. "Well, I think that we might have some time for a few more rounds. What do you guys think?"

"I'm certainly in for it," Mercury said.

"I don't see why not," Cinder agreed. "Ruby?"

"Sure! It's pretty fun! Even though I couldn't beat you, Mercury."

"No need to be jealous," he bragged. That earned him a punch in the shoulder from Emerald. Ruby laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on the Cinder/Mercury fight scene to be more detailed, but I really wanted to get this chapter out tonight, so compromises had to be made. Still, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.


	7. Not Responsible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly dreading this one because it's not my best writing all around, but I'm comfortable posting it since I do want to push this story on.

Ruby went back to her room. She had so much fun sparring with the exchange students, she nearly lost track of time. _Hopefully, they’re not too upset about me being out so late._ Thankfully, she didn’t see that. It seems her team had gotten along without her and were having a fun conversation when she entered. Yang was the first notice her presence. “Ruby!” she exclaimed as she jumped up to greet her.

Yang squeezed her tightly in a big bear hug. “Glad to see you, too,” Ruby strained to say.

Yang released her and she still had a big smile on her face. “I’m glad to know that you’re back safe. What have you been doing all day?”

“Oh, I was just doing some sparring with the exchange students. You know, Cinder and her friends. Sorry I didn’t tell you guys earlier.”

Weiss was immediately concerned. She already heard this story before with Winter. She wasn’t letting it happen again. But she couldn’t let her friends see that.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to spar with people we’re competing against?” Blake asked. “They could just be learning how we fight.”

“It’s not like I was any good against them,” Ruby replied. “They were pretty tough even without weapons.”

“Good thinking, Rubes,” Yang said. “Make ‘em think you suck and when you get better, they’ll never see it coming.”

“I don’t think it’s a strategy so much as getting my butt kicked.” She nervously rubbed her shoulder with embarrassment.

“Still, there’s time to get you into fighting shape.”

“Heh. That’s true.”

“So, how are the new friends?” Blake asked.

“Really cool. I think I like them a lot.”

Weiss finally spoke up “And Cinder?”

_Oh, right. Weiss still doesn’t trust her._ “Uh… still the same. You know how she is.” Ruby laughed nervously, but Weiss’ concerned glare did not go away.

“Right,” she quietly replied.

“Jeez, Weiss,” Yang replied, “why are you so hung up on this?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“I don’t know why you have to be so touchy about it all of a sudden!”

“Oh, so you’re not concerned about your own sister?!” _Oh, no. I know where this is going…_ Blake didn’t know as much as Ruby, but she knew the situation was getting heated way too fast.

Yang got closer to Weiss, her eyes going red. “You know, maybe I should’ve been more concerned about her being with **you**!” Both Ruby and Blake’s eyes widened with shock at that comment.

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Weiss got in Yang’s face.

“You know exactly what it means, Ice Queen!”

At this point, Ruby had to step in to ease the tensions. “Guys! It’s okay! There’s no need to fight.” She turned to her sister. “Yang, Weiss is just concerned about me. It’s okay.” She then turned to her partner. “And Weiss, Yang does care.” She got closer and whispered, “She doesn’t know what you know.” This seemed to calm Weiss down for now. And Yangs eyes returned to their natural lilac color. “So can we all just chill out?”

“Well, that might be easier for her.”

“Yang!”

“Alright, alright.” She sighed. “Sorry, Rubes,” Yang said as she turned away. “And sorry, Weiss. I know you care about her like I do.

“Yeah…” Weiss muttered. “I’m sorry, too, Yang. I just got carried away.”

“Honestly, I think we both did.”

Thank, goodness. Things are calming down. Ruby smiled as she sat down next to Weiss. “So, are we cool?”

Weiss nodded. “Sure. We’re cool.”

Yang said, “Well, of course –“

“I swear to the gods, if you make another ice pun, I will hit you.”

“Fair enough.” She chuckled and she went to lay with Blake again.

“So,” Blake started, “are we all good because I did want to finish my book.”

“Why would you need a book when I’m right here?” Yang wrapped her arm around Blake’s waist as both Blake and a Weiss rolled their eyes. Ruby simply thought, _I guess Blake knows what I have to deal with Cinder. Yang just won’t stop, will she?_

“As tempting as that would be, I’d still prefer to finish the book.”

“Fair enough,” she said as she wrapped both of her arms around Blake. The cat Faunus was used to this by now.

Ruby giggled at the sight, but Weiss whispered, “I still need to talk to you.” This broke Ruby’s smile slightly,  she still tried to smile.

“Do you wanna talk outside?” You know, away from Blake and Yang? And hopefully anyone else?

“Sure,” she replied bluntly, “Let’s go.”

She took Ruby’s hand and the pair got up and walked out of the room.

* * *

Outside, Weiss found a fountain for them to sit together at. As they sat down silently, Ruby wondered what was going to happen. She knew Weiss was going to bring up the story with Winter. She just didn’t know exactly where she was going with this.

“So,” Weiss began, “you were sparring with Cinder and her friends?”

“It’s nothing like that!” Ruby quickly replied. “She just offered to hang out and I wasn’t doing anything and I thought it was okay since she had her friends with her and…”

“What exactly did she do with you?”

Ruby was caught off guard with this question. “What do you mean?”

“Like… when she sees you, does she seem really affectionate? Lots of affectionate touching, maybe she tries to kiss you from time to time? Personal space doesn’t seem to be a thing with her?” Weiss shrugged. “Something like that.”

_Exactly like that_ , Ruby thought nervously. And she knew where she was going next. “Well… Yes… But it’s not a problem or anything. I mean, it’s a little annoying, but it’s nothing like that…” Still, Weiss was not convinced. “Come on, Weiss. You have to believe me.”

“I would be less concerned if I didn’t feel like I was hearing the story all over again.”

“But it’s not! Weiss! Why can’t you just trust me?!”

“I trust you! It’s her I don’t trust and that’s the whole problem! How do you know what she’s saying isn’t her manipulating you or straight up lying to you?! I just… I just don’t want what happened to my sister to happen to you.”

“But you don’t need to hover over me! I’m not a little kid!”

“And neither was she!” It took Weiss a moment to find the right words. “She wasn’t just some little girl when she went to Beacon. And it still happened. I don’t think you’re too young to handle this. I think you’re a strong and determined young woman who can handle herself. But Winter is, too. And she was when it happened. But she was naïve. And because of that, someone took advantage of her. She told me she replayed that scene in her mind all the time for months after it happened. What she could’ve done to avoid it. She told me that story so that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes she did. And I don’t want you to make them either.”

Ruby’s eyes went wide with sorrow. “It wasn’t her fault.” Weiss looked into her eyes. “It wasn’t Winter’s fault what happened. It wasn’t her fault that some jerk decided to take advantage of her. And it wouldn’t be your fault for not warning me. So don’t think that it’s your responsibility to look out for me.”

Weiss couldn’t speak for a moment. She tried to keep tears from flowing. “I just… I just want to know that you’ll be safe. I lo-…” She tried to think of what else she could say. But Ruby knew what she meant and it gave her a small smile. “I care about you too much to let that happen. What if something were –“

Ruby stopped her and gave her a tender kiss. When she broke off the kiss, she softly said, “I’ll be fine.”

Weiss was speechless. She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I told you I don’t have those feelings for you.”

“I know… but I just wanted to do that anyways,” she said with a smile before pulling Weiss in for a hug. “I don’t think Cinder and I will be together that long anyway.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I’m just being honest.” She let go of Weiss. “Don’t be too worried about me.” The white-haired girl smiled. “Let’s go back to the dorm.”

“I’ll go in a minute. I just… need some time to think.”

“Okay. See you there.” She waved as she left Weiss with her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave your complaints about the dodgy writing in the comments below if you have any. I probably share your concerns.
> 
> Also, yes. I am now leaning towards White Rose. For now... [evil smirk]  
> Seriously, though, this is really taking a life of its own at this point. I'm just going with the flow while attempting to find a good path to take.


	8. Photogenic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick update. I know it's been a while since I updated this one, so I thought you might enjoy getting a new chapter.

Next Friday night, Cinder called Ruby back to her dorm. Cinder said she had a surprise for her. Honestly, she just wanted to play video games, so it wasn’t like she was expected much. Still, she brought along a change of clothes just in case. She came to the exchange student’s dorm and knocked on the door. “Who is it?” Cinder asked.

“Uh, it’s me. Ruby.”

“One second. I’ll be right there.” Ruby waited outside for Cinder to let her in. I wonder what kind of surprise she has for me.

Cinder opened the door and Ruby’s jaw immediately dropped. She saw Cinder standing in her crimson lingerie, now with a matching garter belt and stockings. Oh… that’s the surprise… I guess I should’ve predicted that. “So glad you could make it,” Cinder said in a sultry tone.

“Uh… yeah…” Ruby’s face was as red as her namesake when she saw her.

“Come on in.” She led Ruby inside and let her sit at the desk. “Now, close your eyes and let me get your surprise.”

“You mean… this,” she gestured to Cinder’s body, “isn’t the surprise.

“Well, you’ve already seen these. I did send you those pictures.” _Oh, yeah… those…_ Ruby was already feeling a little aroused at the sight. She knew where Cinder was going to go with this night. She didn’t know exactly when, but she knew it was going there. “Now, close your eyes, and no peeking.” Ruby did as she was told, and she waited. All she heard was some rustling around as Cinder looked for something. “Okay, now open them.” When she did, she saw Cinder holding up a black set of lingerie similar to Cinder’s.

“Oh… Is this… for me…?” Ruby wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to such a gift.

“Of course. I thought maybe you could have a moment to try it on and model it for me.”

Cinder looked at Ruby with her burning gaze. Ruby practically melted from it. “I’m not so sure about this… I don’t think this kind of underwear is for me.”

“Oh, nonsense! Come on, Ruby. It’ll be fun. And I’m sure you’ll look great in this.”

“You… really think so?”

“Mm-hm. I picked them just for you.” Cinder gave her a coy smirk as she held the underwear.

“…Well…” Ruby nervously rubbed the back of her neck as she looked away, embarrassed about the idea. “…I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Perfect. Now, why don’t you get undressed and I’ll help you try these on.”

“O- okay.” Ruby reluctantly removes her corset first as Cinder watched. It would be a little easier if she didn’t have her eyes on me. Next was her cloak and her boots. Her combat-skirt and her shirt came off soon after.

Ruby looked back at Cinder who was now sitting on her bed with her usual smirk. “Go on.”

 _Am I inadvertently doing a strip-tease for her?_ Even with this thought, she took her leggings off, leaving her in her own bra and panties. “You know,” Cinder said, “you do look pretty cute in your usual underwear.”

“Heh. Thanks.” But soon after they came off. _I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I’ve already had sex with her._ “So… do I just put these on?”

Cinder chuckled as she got up from her seat. “Why don’t I help you out a little bit?”

“Oh, I can do it myself.”

“At least let me put on the stockings for you.” Cinder sat her down on the bed and grabbed the black stockings. She took Ruby’s leg and slowly pulled the stocking up her leg, stopping at mid-thigh. She felt Cinder’s hand grazing her skin after she pulled the stocking up. Ruby flinched at the touch, but that only made Cinder’s smile grow. She takes the other stocking and does the same. “There you go.”

As Cinder stepped back, Ruby looked down at her legs and wiggled her toes in the stockings. “How do they feel?” Cinder asked.

“Uh, not bad,” Ruby softly replied. She kicked her feet as she looked at them.

“Do you wanna put the rest on?”

“Sure.” Ruby took the panties and pulled them up over the stockings. She looked back at Cinder as she was doing something on her scroll. As she put on the bra, she was a little surprised that it was her size. _Not that it was that big anyway._

Cinder looked back up and saw that Ruby put everything on. “You’re not putting on the garter belt?”

“What?” Cinder walked over and picked it up for Ruby to see. “Oh, that.” So that’s what it’s called. “I don’t know, it just seems a bit much for me.”

“Are you sure?” Ruby nods and shrugs. “Okay then. Well, you still look pretty good as is. Here.” Cinder took Ruby’s hand and took her in front of a mirror.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I look as good as you in it.”

“Well, you do look pretty adorable in it.”

Ruby blushed and giggled nervously. “You… really think so?”

“I do.” Cinder stood behind her and gently placed her hands on her shoulders. “It looks great on you.” Ruby wasn’t entirely convinced, but hearing Cinder say that made her look at it differently. _Well… I guess it does look kinda good on me._ “It makes you feel kinda sexy doesn’t it?”

Ruby looked at herself in the mirror. “A little bit.”

“It might help to model it a little bit. How about you go to the bed and show it off a little bit.”

“I don’t know…”

“If you don’t want to do it, you can take it off. You don’t need to feel pressured into it.”

“No, no! It’s not that. It’s just… I really don’t think it’s for me.”

“Well, what do you want to do?”

Ruby rubbed her shoulder as she thought about it. _Eh… maybe it’ll feel good._ “…Maybe a few poses.”

Cinder smiled. “Great.” Ruby walked over to the bed as Cinder sat on the opposite bed.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“Why don’t you lay on your side?”

Ruby did that and rested her head on her wrist as her elbow rested on the bed. “Like this?”

“That’s perfect.” She looked for Ruby’s scroll and opened it.

“What are you doing?”

“Just wanted to take a few pictures. Do you mind?”

Ruby squinted. “You want… pictures of me?”

“They’re not for me. They’re for you.” She opened the camera app. “Maybe a little confidence boost if you will.”

“Oh… well… I don’t know.”

“Well, at least let me take a picture of this one. It makes you look pretty good.”

“Let me see.” Cinder snapped the photo and showed it to Ruby. Wow… I do kinda look good. “I guess, I’ll keep this one. But that’s all.”

“Okay. Then, how about I let you take a few pictures of me?” Cinder handed Ruby her scroll back. “A private photo shoot just for you.” Cinder winked as she laid back on the bed.

“O- okay.” She took the scroll and prepared to take a picture of her, but she noticed something beside her bed. “What are those?”

Cinder looked over at the objects and seemed to recognize them. “Oh, those.” She pulled them out and revealed that they were two blades. “Just some old weapons of mine. I don’t use them that often.”

Ruby, however, was enamored by them. They were simple, but she thought they looked very cool. “These are pretty nice.”

“If you think they look cool now, then watch this.” Cinder took the blades and hooked them together to form a bow.

Ruby’s eyes went wide with wonder. “Wow. That’s pretty great. Why don’t you use it as much?”

“Personal preference I guess.”

Before Cinder put them back, Ruby stopped her. “Wait.” Cinder looked back. “Do you think you could… use these in the photos?”

“Really? Well… if that’s what you want.” She took apart the bow. “I’m at your command.”

Ruby was much more interested in taking the photos. She directed Cinder into a bunch of different poses both showing off the weapons and her body. Ruby was surprised how sexy she could make it look. She had to have taken at least twenty pictures by now. _She makes it look so good._ “Want any more?”

“No. I’m good. They look fantastic.” Ruby gave her an endearing smile.

She looks over the photos herself. “You’re quite the photographer.”

Ruby giggled. “Well… you make a great model.”

“Why thank you.” Cinder took her in for a kiss. _Yep. I should’ve known this would head here_ tonight. “You know, maybe we can do a little less looking and a little more touching.”

As she felt Cinder’s hand run up her leg, her breath hitched. “Uh… sure…” Cinder backed her up onto the bed.

 

Cinder held Ruby in her arms as they rested. Ruby had her arms wrapped around Cinder. “Hey, Cinder,” Ruby asked, “what is it about me that you like so much?”

She noticed an odd glint in the older girl’s eyes as she thought about it. She didn’t know what to think of it, but she didn’t think much of it. “Well,” Cinder replied, “I do think you’re a lovely young woman. You’re strong and a determined fighter. And just adorable.” She gently poked Ruby’s nose and smiled.

“But… you know I’m… kinda young. I just didn’t think a senior would be interested in someone like me.”

“I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

Ruby shrugged. “I guess that’s a good point.”

“What brought this up?”

“I was… just kinda wondering.”

“Well, there’s nothing to worry about.” Cinder’s head rested closer to Ruby’s as she stroked the younger girl’s hair.

After some rest, Cinder and Ruby (mostly Ruby) decided that they should play some video games. She had brought over her  _Scarlet Avenger_  game and wanted Cinder to try it out. Ruby always had a bit of a crush on her and read all of her comics. Unfortunately, she wasn’t real, but that didn’t stop Ruby from liking her. Cinder thought it was kind of cute how Ruby felt about her.

Cinder tried out the game and breezed through it, much to Ruby’s surprise. “Wow,” she said. “You are really good at video games, aren’t you?”

“I guess I’m just a natural.” Cinder confidently smirked. “You know, maybe I could be your Scarlet Avenger.”

“Oh.” Ruby nervously chuckled. “That would be pretty cool.”  _And I don’t know if I would be able to handle that… she would look pretty hot in that costume._

“Hopefully, I can get a costume we could use for something else.” She winked at Ruby just before going back to the game. Ruby’s face was red just thinking about the idea.  _Oh my gosh… I definitely wouldn’t be able to handle that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **IMPORTANT NOTE:** I wanted to let you all know that this one will be the last chapter I post for a while. Not only do I want to take some more time working on other projects I have lined up that I have planned out more -- like my series _The Makings of Team CRME_. I know it's my most popular one, but I don't have a good grip on where I want to send this story yet. (I even had a different idea for this chapter that I'll be working into the story later.) So, I'd rather spend some more time on things I can actually write out now. Not only that, but I'll be getting pretty busy soon, so I won't have time for writing, unfortunately (as I've been saying on the past few fics I've been uploading these past few days).
> 
> That said, I'm not abandoning this story. No need to worry about that. Once I get some more ideas and more time, I'll be coming right back to it. For now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter for now.


	9. Unfortunate Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! I'm finally back at it. As promised, you guys are getting a new chapter. I know it's my most popular fic and I finally got some good ideas on how to move the plot along. So, please enjoy. And comments are always appreciated. (Even if I haven't responded to them, I see all of them. Trust me. Your words are getting through to me.)

 

Weiss and Ruby went to the library to do some studying. Weiss was glad that she could get some time alone with Ruby. She wasn’t trying anything, but she was at least sure that she wouldn’t be with Cinder. The girls carried their books in and sat at a table close to the windows. (Ruby wanted to be outside, but Weiss insisted they go to a quiet place. Their compromise was getting some sunlight.)

The girls laid their books down. “Now,” Weiss began, “I know you did well on your last test with Oobleck, but this time is going to be even tougher. I want to make sure that you’re ready.”

“Trust me,” Ruby replied. “I know that. I’m gonna be studying my butt off for this test.”

“Good. Glad to see you’re taking initiative.”

“Yep! I’m eager to learn.” Weiss smiled.

The girls continued studying their science notes taken from class. Ruby's notes were a bit disorganized, but thankfully Weiss was able to piece things together. Everything was going fine. “Pass me the Dust sciences book.”

 _Wait…_ “Uh, Weiss?” The Schnee looked up. “We don’t have that one.”

“What do you mean we don’t? I told you that we needed to pick it up.”

“I told Blake to get it, but when I asked her if she got it, she was still busy with the Torchwick thing!”

“Then why didn’t you tell Yang to do it?”

“I…” _Oh, wait. She has a point._ “Oh…”

Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed. “You know what? It’s really no big deal. We’re already here, so you can go look for it now. I’ll watch over our stuff.”

“Sure.” As she got up, Ruby giggled. “Hey, since it's a book about Dust, how many times do you think your family name shows up in there?”

“Just find the damn book, you dolt!”

“Okay! Okay! It was just a joke. No need to yell. Jeez…” Ruby walked away as Weiss shook her head. She wasn't really mad at Ruby. Honestly, she was wondering the same thing.

Ruby went through the shelves looking for the book. No luck so far. _Come on, where is it? I’d have an easier time finding bad guys._ Almost like clockwork, Cinder came up behind her and whispered to her, “Hey, Ruby.”

She gasped and jumped with surprise. She turned around only to see Cinder’s amber eyes looking down at her and her confident smirk. “Oh, Cinder. You scared the heck out of me.” Ruby soon realized that Cinder was backing her into the bookshelf. _Uh… Okay…_

“I saw you and thought I might say hello.” Her face was inches away from Ruby’s.

“Oh. Well… hi.” She chuckled nervously as she felt Cinder’s hand on her thigh. _Okay, I see where this is going._ “Uh, should we really be doing this here? I mean –” That was all she could get out before Cinder kissed her. She felt the euphoric heat that she always felt from Cinder’s lips.

“Just wanted to do something quickly.” Her hand went between her legs. “No need to worry.” Cinder kissed Ruby’s neck as her fingers rubbed the thin fabric over her crotch.

“Are you… sure about this?”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No, keep going!” they heard in a whispered tone. They looked over and saw Nora Valkyrie watching next to them. Ruby was mortified that she saw, but Nora seemed excited before being caught. “Oh. Sorry. You guys can go about your business.” She winked as she walked away.

 _I have a feeling that she’s still watching from somewhere._ Ruby turned her attention back to Cinder. “So,” Cinder continued, “am I making you uncomfortable? Or do you wanna keep this up?”

“I mean… maybe we can do… a little bit… I just don’t wanna get caught.” _Again._

Cinder’s fingers started rubbing more. She whispered in her ear, “Then you’ll have to be quiet.”

Weiss stayed at the table waiting for Ruby. She was thinking it shouldn’t have been taking her this long to find the book. She drummed her fingers on the table as she waited. Suddenly, Nora showed up and greeted her. “Oh! Hey, Weiss. How’s it going?”

Weiss shrugged. “I’m fine. Just waiting for Ruby to get a book for us.”

“Oh!” She remembered when she saw the crimsonette. “I actually just saw her and her…” She looked around and leaned closer as if it was top secret information she was sharing. “…her new girlfriend.”

Weiss’ anger flared up almost immediately. “Where is she?” she coldly asked with a glare.

Nora could tell that Weiss was infuriated as soon as she looked up at her. “I don’t think you wanna interrupt them.”

Weiss shot out of her seat. “Oh, trust me. I **really** do. Where are they?”

Cinder slowly rubbed Ruby’s crotch as she moaned. “Does it feel good, Ruby?” Cinder purred.

“Uh-huh,” Ruby quietly moaned. _I really hope no one else sees us._

“RUBY!” She recognized the voice. _Oh, no…_ Both girls turned to see an infuriated Weiss looking at them. She glared directly at Cinder. “Get. Away. From her.”

Cinder’s expression was neutral as she stepped away from Ruby. Ruby, on the other hand, was mortified. Her silver eyes were wide with fear and she blushed immediately. “Weiss,” Ruby pleaded, “it’s not what it looks like.”

“I’m sure it isn’t.” Weiss stomped over to Cinder. “You better not be trying to take advantage of her.”

“I don’t know,” Cinder replied. “She seemed to be open to the idea. I did ask her if she was uncomfortable.”

“I doubt she would let you do this right now.”

“Actually…” Ruby said, “I did… let her.” She shrunk from embarrassment. Afraid of what Weiss would say to her.

Weiss’ eyes widened as she looked back at Cinder. Cinder’s eyes only seemed smug even though the rest of her face betrayed no emotion. Ruby watched the confrontation. _This is not good. At all._ Weiss’ fists clenched, and she could almost see a smile forming on the senior’s face. “We’re going.” She immediately grabbed Ruby’s wrist and dragged her away.

“Wait.”

“I don’t wanna hear it!”

“Don’t you need a book?” Weiss stopped dead in her tracks. “Ruby was looking through the shelves when I found her. I wouldn’t want you guys to leave empty-handed.”

“Uh, I was looking for _Dust Applications and Sciences_ ,” Ruby stuttered. “By Jasper Cade.”

Cinder looked through the shelves and found it rather quickly. “Here it is.”

“Thanks.” Ruby smiled nervously. Weiss intervened and snatched the book herself. Without another word, she pulled Ruby back to their table. Weiss took her seat and Ruby hesitantly sat back down. “Look… about just now…”

“What was she doing with you?” Weiss bluntly asked.

“Well… I… she was just…” Weiss’ glare wasn’t making this any easier on her. She didn’t know what to say to ease her suspicions. “I… I let her. Like I told you before.”

“If she wasn’t giving you much of a choice but to do it –”

“I just didn’t wanna get caught!” She shouted in a hushed tone. “She even asked me if I wanted to stop! I swear, it isn’t what you think.”

Weiss was still frustrated. She couldn’t believe Ruby was letting Cinder talk her into this stuff. She rubbed her temples with frustration. “I just don’t trust her. That’s all.”

“Weiss, it’s okay if you’re jealous. Just tell me.”

“I’m. Not. Jealous.” She roughly sighed and said, “Let’s just get back to studying. Okay?”

She looked up and saw Cinder exiting the library behind Weiss. Cinder winked at Ruby just before disappearing behind the doors. "...Okay."

The two continued studying as normal, but they couldn't shake the thoughts of what Cinder did. Ruby was still scared about what Weiss was thinking of Cinder. And Weiss was even more distrusting. She didn't know what to do about Cinder. While they didn't show it, the elephant in the room was still on their minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **FUN FACT:** If you didn't recognize it. Scarlet Avenger comes from another fic of mine. I'm kind of want to make her a recurring element in my _RWBY_ fics. (They won't all be in the same continuity. Just to be clear.)
> 
> Also, I wanna take the time to promote my series _[The Makings of Team CRME](https://archiveofourown.org/series/906558)_. I've been working pretty hard on it and I'd appreciate you guys going to check it out.


	10. Healthy Speculation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short chapter for now. (Didn't expect it to be this short, but that's how it is.)

Nora barged into JNPR's room where Pyrrha, Jaune, and Ren were relaxing. All of them were startled by the exuberant redhead's appearance. "Afternoon, roomies!" she shouted. "How's everyone doing?"

"Nora," Pyrrha replied, "lovely to see you again."

"Not as much as what I just saw in the library just now! Ruby and her hot girlfriend were making out in there! It was so cool."

Ren sighed. "Nora, what did I say about creeping up on people?"

Nora pouted. "Killjoy..." she muttered.

"Wait," Jaune replied. "Ruby has a girlfriend?"

"That Haven exchange student. The one with the black hair."

"Wait! That means Weiss is available?!" The blond boy's spirits were instantly raised.

"Wasn't she trying to go out with Neptune?" Pyrrha noted. If she was being honest, anything that kept Jaune available was better.

"Trying though! It means I still have a shot if he says no!" Pyrrha's heart sank when she heard that.

"Honestly," Nora replied, "I think she's still jealous of Cinder. I told her about it and she seemed really p**sed about it."

"Aw..." Now Jaune's heart sank.

"Wait," Pyrrha said, "What reason would Weiss have to be jealous of her?"

"Beats me. Maybe the old flame is still alive." She hopped onto the bed where Ren was reading. "I think trying to have sex in a library might be a little suspicious. Definitely not something I would've thought Ruby was into."

"In the middle of the library?" This truly startled her.

Nora, however, was still excited about it. "Right there. Up against a bookshelf. It was like something out of a romance novel."

"I'm not too sure about this."

"I agree with Pyrrha," Jaune added. "It sounds like she's kind of a bad influence on Ruby."

"And it's already bad enough when you taught her how to masturbate."

"I'm surprised Yang never taught her about it," Nora replied. "Some big sister. These are the important lessons. But no. She said that Ruby 'wasn't interested in it at the time.' I've seen the way she looks at those Scarlet Avenger posters."

"No comment," Jaune muttered.

Pyrrha said, "I'm just saying that things might be going a little too far outside of her comfort zone. Don't you think that's somewhat odd?"

Nora chuckled. "Ha! This coming from Little Miss Thirsty-For-Ja-"

"NORA!" Pyrrha yelled out with an uncharacteristic expression of anger.

Nora backed off and looked down at her lap. "...Just saying..."

Pyrrha sighed. "You know how this could end. And I think Weiss might know that. Maybe it's not really jealousy."

"Honey, I know jealousy from a mile away. She definitely has it bad."

"I'm honestly just uncomfortable with this conversation," Jaune admitted.

"Ugh, you guys are no fun." She shook Ren's shoulder. "Come on, Ren. What do you think?"

"I just want to finish my book," he replied.

 

RWBY sat through Professor Goodwitch's class lecture on Dust sciences. Ruby was barely paying any attention as she was struggling to stay awake. Weiss noticed this and occasionally nudged her to keep her from falling asleep.

Yang spent half the time flirting with Blake. She kept flooding her scroll with messages. Blake's scroll buzzed and she looked at the messages.

 **Yang:** Can't wait for a chance to pet your kitten tonight ;)

Blake looked up as Yang formed a V with her fingers, sticking her tongue between them. Blake simply rolled her eyes at the action.

 **Yang:** What's wrong? I just wanna make you purr all night long.

 **Blake:** You might need to work on your pickup lines.

 **Yang:** C'mon, Blakey. Help meow-t here. XD

Blake sighed as she looked at the text.

Weiss was hard at work, taking notes for the exam and making sure Ruby didn't fall asleep completely. Goodwitch barely noticed since Ruby just looked bored at the most. However, Weiss was still trying her best to keep her awake.

"Miss Rose!" Goodwitch called out, immediately startling Ruby awake. "Can you tell me the combinations of Dust necessary for creating the ignition component in a Dust bullet?"

Much to Weiss' surprise, Ruby answered perfectly and said, "Uh... that would be powdered Fire Dust for ignition and Air Dust for propulsion."

"Correct," she replied. The answer satisfied the professor. And Weiss couldn't help but congratulate her teammate by giving her a low-five. Ruby was proud of herself for getting the answer correct. Glynda continued the lecture. After that question, Ruby tried paying more attention to make sure she didn't get caught off-guard again.

 

Team RWBY exited class and made their way to the cafeteria for lunch. "Ruby!" a voice called out. The crimsonette turned and saw Cinder waving at her. Weiss glared at the senior as Ruby waved back. Ruby ran over to her to talk to her.

"Hey, Cinder," she said. "Uh... I was just wondering... since the dance is coming up soon..." Cinder smirked at the fluster young girl. "Do you wanna go with me..."

Cinder chuckled. "Ruby, I'd love to, but I might be a bit busy that night."

"Oh... really?" Ruby couldn't hide the fact that she was a little letdown.

"Yes, but I will try to make it there. It might be a bit later in the night, but Emerald and Mercury will be there. If I do show up, I'll be dancing with one of them if I can't find you. Just ask the other where I am. Or, if you see me, don't hesitate to cut in. I'd still love to share a dance with my little rose." Cinder kissed her nose as Ruby giggled and blushed.

"Ahem," they heard. They turned to a stern-faced Weiss glaring at them. "Ruby, we need to head to lunch."

"Oh, sorry to keep her held back her." She looked at her lover and said, "I'll see you later, Ruby." And with that, they parted ways.

Ruby and Weiss returned to Blake and Yang. "What was that about?" Yang asked.

As they continued to the cafeteria, Ruby answered, "I was asking Cinder to the dance."

"Ooh! What'd she say?"

"Well... she said she'd try to be there. She might be pretty late."

"Aw. Well, that blows."

"It's fine. It's not like it'll be the only dance we'll have."

"Speaking of which, Weiss, weren't you gonna ask Neptune?"

Weiss blushed. "I will," she responded, "but I'm just taking my time in asking him."

"Don't take too much time. Who knows if he'll ask some other girl to the dance. You know he will."

"I'm aware of his behavior, but I'll make sure I'm the first to ask."

"Well," Blake muttered, "you already missed your chance to ask Ruby, so..."

Weiss heard exactly what she said. And she still was upset that people still thought she was jealous. She just wanted to be sure Ruby was safe... at least, that's what she told herself. And she seemed to believe it, too.

"Speaking of which," Yang commented, "what are you gonna do if Sun asks, Blake?"

"You're not gonna be mad?" Blake asked.

"Well, I'm not opposed to sharing, but just remember who you're going home with." Yang winked. And she knew exactly what she meant.

Suddenly, Jaune jumped in front of all of them. "Hey, Weiss!" he yelled. "I was just -"

Without hesitating, Weiss responded, "Not going with you," while moving past him.

Standing in place, Yang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Tough break buddy." The rest of RWBY followed Weiss as he watched them move on.

Nora stepped next to Jaune and said, "I told you she's got her mind on other people." She shook her head in sympathy for Jaune.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanna take the time to promote my series _[The Makings of Team CRME](https://archiveofourown.org/series/906558)_. I've been working pretty hard on it and I'd appreciate you guys going to check it out.


	11. Discussion, Dueling, and Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice to get back to this one again. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Weiss got Blake and Yang in the dorm alone as Ruby was out with Nora. "Alright, everyone," Weiss said. "I think you all know why we're here."

"Because of your jealousy?" Yang said. Earning a scowl from Weiss. "Seriously, this might be getting a little out of hand."

"You did hear about what happened in the library, right? This Cinder girl doesn't seem like the most trustworthy person."

"Didn't Ruby says she wanted it?"

"She's young! You know that. Cinder's a senior! Why don't you try taking this seriously?! She's your sister!"

"I know that. But I'm not going to be babying her right now. You think that I was completely comfortable with her having sex with you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I mean I naturally worry about Ruby. I trust you, but this is a big step and I was so concerned if she was ready for it."

"Oh, I could tell you were concerned with all the cheering you were doing."

"She's got a point, Yang," Blake added.

"And by the way, do you really think Ruby would've wanted to be doing something sexual in the middle of the library?"

"I mean, I've tried it before, but Blake chickened out." Blake's face turned bright red. "Besides, when you so quickly shoved us out of the room, I was thinking about where to go from there. I hadn't realized that she was interested in sex at the time. I needed to figure out how to talk about it seriously. I do worry about what might happen with Cinder, but I trust Ruby. And If something happens, there will be Hell to pay. I'll be the first one in line to punch her teeth out. But right now, Ruby doesn't really say that she's been having problems."

"What? Do you discuss her sex life often?"

"Actually, she comes to me about this sort of thing. She told me that she sometimes feels flustered around her. And some of the things she does. I told her if she felt too uncomfortable, she should just say so. And Cinder does listen."

Weiss scoffed. "I find that very hard to believe. I can't believe you're minimizing this whole situation." She turned to Blake and asked, "You know what I mean, right?"

"Cinder does seem a little sketchy," Blake answered. "I mean, she seems so... possessive of Ruby and I don't think Ruby realizes it."

"Thank you, Blake!"

"Well, this must be serious," Yang remarked, "if a Schnee is agreeing with a Faunus. I'm honestly shocked."

"Yang," Blake replied, "you saw how Cinder was being around Ruby. It doesn't seem like Cinder has Ruby's best interests in mind."

"Trust me. I know my sister. If I see a problem, you can bet your ass that I'll be making sure something gets done about it. So you don't need to tell me how to care about Ruby."

Yang's serious tone left Weiss flabbergasted. Even Blake had to see things the way Yang did. "I... But..."

"Weiss, why don't you tell me what's really going on? Why do you care so much about this?"

She couldn't tell them about Winter. She already told Ruby about it, but she couldn't give this away to anyone else. "I just do! Okay?! I don't know why you don't care more."

"Well, at least I'm not turning myself into a goddamn paranoid maniac about it."

Weiss clenched her fists in anger. "Grr!" She stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut.

Blake looked over at Yang. "Maybe that was a bit harsh," she said.

"Look," Yang replied, "I know it may seem like I'm not doing enough about this, I'm not gonna be overbearing. I don't want her to get hurt, but it's not like I'll be able to keep that from happening forever."

"But you can do something about this now."

"Trust me. If it were me, I wouldn't bother listening to that advice if I were in Ruby's position. So I can either put up barriers everywhere around her and have her resent me or make sure she has someone she can trust to go to if she gets hurt."

Blake was almost speechless. "I... I didn't think of it that way."

"I've been doing the big-sister thing for most of my life. I know what I'm doing." She moved to Blake's bed and sat close to her. "Trust me, I'll protect her when that needs to be done. I always plan on protecting the people I love." She put her arm around Blake and kissed her cheek. Blake smiled at her...

...and grabbed her face to kiss her, pinning her to her bed. "Well, I do like people who take care of the people they love."

Yang smirked and said, "I didn't think it would be such a turn-on for you." She wrapped her arms around Blake's neck and passionately kissed her back.

* * *

Weiss went down the hall to find a place to be alone. She was terrified of having what happened to Winter happening to Ruby. She tried to think about how she could possibly help Ruby see how dangerous Cinder could be... but then it hit her. Winter would be coming to visit soon. She might be able to get her to show what could happen to Ruby. Weiss wasted no time trying to get Winter on the scroll. She waited as the scroll rang.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for Winter to answer the call. "Hey, Weiss," she said.

"Winter!" Weiss replied. "I'm so glad you answered."

"I'm happy to hear that."

"Well, this might be a bit more serious call." Weiss' voice wavered.

"Why? What's the problem?"

"You remember that girl I told you about, right?"

"The one you're jealous of?"

"I'm not jealous! It's just that... the girl she's dating is a senior."

There was silence over the line for a moment. Winter's tone became more hesitant. "Where are you going with this? Did something happen?!"

"No! No, no, no! But, I'm afraid that something might happen."

"Then what do you want me to do about it?"

"If you can, do you think you can come over and see this girl for yourself? You would know the red flags. If it's going to... bring up too many memories, you don't have to do it... but I'd really appreciate it if you can." She didn't hear anything from her sister, something that worried her. "Winter?"

"Sorry, I... I just..." Weiss knew that she was having a flashback. "I'll do it. I'll be coming in a few days and I'll... I'll see what this is about."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I was coming there soon anyway, so it's not too big a favor to ask."

Weiss smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

After so much time wondering if Cinder would be showing up to the dance. She saw everyone enjoying themselves, even Jaune was having fun with the rest of his team - in a dress, no less. But she did want to know where Cinder possibly was. She decided to go outside to get some fresh air. _The whole time, I still haven't gotten used to these lady-stilts. How do girls use these things?_

And that's when she saw a mysterious figure rushing across the rooftops. _What the heck?_ She knew that it wasn't any good. And she couldn't just leave this alone. She followed the figure to see where they were going.

 

Ruby sat while General Ironwood questioned her. She couldn't believe that she let another bad guy get away. "And have you actually seen the assailant?" Ironwood asked.

"She was here. I know it!" She wanted to blame her shoes, but the girl attacking her was wearing high heels as well. And she still wiped the floor with her. "I tried to stop her, but she left as soon as you got here. I swear!"

"It's alright, Ruby. It's not your fault. The fact that you tried to stop her is good enough. You just go enjoy the rest of the dance."

"Are you sure?"

"You've done well, Ruby. Go on and we'll take it from here and I'll ask you more questions about it when the time comes."

She didn't feel good about leaving this situation, but she did want to know if Cinder would ever show up to the dance. So, she allowed the general to take care of things.

And as soon as she walked back to the ballroom, she saw Cinder in a beautiful, black, sparkling dress while dancing with Mercury. _Oh, gosh… She's beautiful._ She finally gained the courage to go up and dance with her. They were too focused on each other to notice Ruby approach.

Ruby cleared her throat. "Uh… hi."

Both the older students looked at her, and Cinder's smile grew. "Ruby," she replied as she looked down at her. "I'm so glad to see you here."

"I'm… glad to see you. You look beautiful."

"You do as well." She released Mercury and held out her hand. "Shall we have this dance?"

Ruby took her hand and started waltzing with her. Cinder placed her hand on the small of Ruby's back and held her close, flustering Ruby. Still, Ruby ended up stumbling over her feet. "Sorry. I'm not good with these shoes."

Cinder chuckled. "Maybe I should've helped you practice wearing them."

"Heh. Yeah, that might have helped. You're kind of a natural."

"I think you're doing well for a beginner."

"Well, I have been wearing these things all night. And I tried fighting a girl earlier."

"Really?"

"Someone who broke into the CCT tower."

"You seem to come across a lot of neer-do-wells. Were you able to catch her?"

"No." Ruby looked down. "She got away, too. I really need to get better at this."

"At least you tried."

"Funny. That's basically what Ironwood said."

"I think it's best that we don't focus too much on that now. For now…" Cinder leaned down and kissed her. "…let's enjoy ourselves." Ruby smiled as she danced with Cinder.

Just then, Weiss caught a glimpse of the couple dancing. Her mood dropped slightly just from seeing it. "Weiss," she heard as Neptune tapped her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She lied and said, "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's just have fun. Alright?"

"I definitely plan on that." His coy smile did not escape her attention.

She smirked and said, "Just keep up your dorky dancing."

As he did, Weiss still couldn't keep Ruby and Cinder off her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter! We'll have Winter making an extended appearance! I'll need to work on editing some plot points for it to make sure the chapter is at a good length. So, I hope that you'll enjoy it. And I hope you enjoyed reading this as well.
> 
> And of course, I want to promote my series _[The Makings of Team CRME](https://archiveofourown.org/series/906558)_. I've been working pretty hard on it and I'd appreciate you guys going to check it out. I only have a few chapters left and I've been really looking forward to getting to those as well.


	12. Family Visit

Weiss waited patiently for Winter to arrive at Beacon. She was so excited to see her older sister again after all of the things she went through over the last few weeks.

Including the situation with Ruby and Cinder. However, that could wait for now. Right now, she just wanted to see her beloved sister again. Her heart was racing when she saw Winter’s ship pulling into the front of the campus. As the ship landed, she ran up to it with anticipation. The doors of the ship lowered revealed the older woman. Elation filled Weiss’ face. Something that made Winter smile. “Winter!” Weiss shouted.

Winter descended the ramp with her robotic and human guards. “Happy to see you, too, Weiss.” Weiss went for a hug, but Winter stopped her. “Uh, not right now.”

Her smile faded. “But –“

“Schnee!” a male voice called out. Weiss saw that the voice came from General Ironwood. With him was Professor Ozpin.

Winter stood at attention and saluted. “General Ironwood, sir.”

“At ease.” Winter relaxed her stance. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon.”

“Well, I came to visit my younger sister to see how she is doing in her training.” She turned to Ozpin. “I must say that you’ve done a fantastic job of maintaining this school. It looks even better than when I attended.”

Ozpin smiled. “Glad to see you again, Winter. I do take it that you have received our messages about the important matter.”

“Yes, sir. I can speak to you about it immediately.”

Weiss’ frown returned as she said, “What about hanging out? And…” She looked around and made sure no one was listening before leaning in closer. “…the other problem?” she whispered.

“It won’t take long. Just tell me where your dorm is and I’ll meet you there.” She walked with her guards, Ironwood, and Ozpin away from Weiss. She was minutely disappointed that she couldn’t spend time right away, but she was still glad to see her here. She could finally take care of her problem with Cinder. And she’d get to meet her team… _Son of a bitch_ , she thought as the realization caught up with her. Her eyes widened as she remembered how her team was and that it wouldn’t mesh well with Winter’s disciplined demeanor. She raced back to her dorm.

* * *

Yang and Ruby were playing video games while Blake was on her bed, reading. They were tied in their fighting game, but Ruby was about to win again. “You will not defeat me!” Ruby shouted. “You may be my sister, but I will have no mercy.”

“That’s what you think, young one,” Yang replied, “but it shall not help you. For I am the superior gamer!”

Blake found it endearing how dramatic Yang could get while playing games with her sister. It was quite a show.

Suddenly, just as Ruby was about to give Yang the coup de grace, Yang swept in and defeated Ruby with one finishing attack. “NO!” Ruby shouted, distraught by the defeat.

Yang smiled triumphantly as she held her hands up high. “Reigning champion! In your face, Rubes!”

Ruby fell flat on her back in exaggerated despair. “Why must you be so cruel?”

“Like you said, sis, no mercy.” Ruby realized the irony of her earlier boast and moaned in agony. Though, they all knew she’d quickly get over it.

Weiss burst into the room, out of breath. “Guys!” she shouted. “I might not have a lot of time to explain, but my sister is coming to our dorm to visit. I need you all on your best behavior.”

“Wait,” Yang interjected, “isn’t she the one from Atlas?”

“Well, considering that I am also from Atlas, that would be assumed.” Weiss’ facetious tone did not escape Yang’s notice. “She’s also an Atlas specialist. Some of the highest ranked officials in the kingdom. You all need to show her that you are a respectful, dignified team.”

“What? I’m respectful.” Yang randomly burped loudly, leading Weiss to roll her eyes. “Sorry, we’ve been drinking a lot of soda.” Blake couldn’t help but giggle at it.

“This is serious! I need to show her that I’ve been in good hands during Beacon, so you need to make sure that you’re a team that can be bragged about.”

Blake raised an eyebrow. “And you’re saying we aren’t?” she asked.

“Ugh! You know what I mean!”

However, all Ruby could think about was the story that Weiss told her about her sister. And she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to shake that from her mind when she met her.

They heard a knock on the door. “That’s her. Remember act, professionally.” Weiss opened the door as Ruby sat up, wondering what to expect. Winter stood straight and glared at all of them with her cold eyes. However, Weiss was smiling from ear to ear. “Winter! It’s so lovely to see you.”

Winter passed her without a word and went to look at the beds. She inspected them thoroughly. “Interesting arrangements,” she noted in a flat tone.”

Weiss nervously tired to explain it. “Oh, don’t worry about those. They only look unstable, but they’re surprisingly sturdy.”

“At least this proves that your friends are rather… inventive.” Yang stood by wondering whether or not to take that as a compliment.

“Uh… well –“

“Don’t stutter,” Winter shouted. “I thought I taught you to speak confidently.”

“Yes! Of course! But now, I’d like to introduce you to the rest of Team RWBY. Introduce yourselves, guys.”

Yang was the first to follow the command. “Well, hello,” she said with a seductive grin. “Name’s Yang Xiao Long, but you can just call me Yang.” She shook hands with Winter. “I must say, Weiss didn’t mention her sister would be so beautiful.” She kissed the back of Winter’s hand, causing Blake to roll her eyes and Weiss to facepalm.

“I… have a girlfriend,” Winter awkwardly replied.

“And so do she,” Blake replied as she pulled Yang away. “I’m Blake Belladonna. Excuse her. She’s a bit of a flirt.”

“I’ve noticed.” She shook Blake’s hand, but the history of Faunus and Schnees did not escape her. But she tried to hide her discomfort. “I assume you are quite the studious individual with all of the books you’ve been reading.”

“Well, I am a bit of bookworm.”

She nodded with approval and moved to the leader. Things are looking good so far, Weiss thought. “And this must be the leader.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ruby replied. “Ruby Rose.”

“Hmm… exactly as I expected.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

Weiss winced at the comment. “That’s not a great thing,” Winter replied. Ruby’s smile dropped slightly. “However, you are still an… acceptable leader. She has told me much about you. I look forward to seeing you in combat.” Winter turned to Weiss once again. “Well, they seem to be adequate.”

“Are you satisfied?” Weiss asked.

“For now. That said…” Winter picked her up with a smile on her face and kissed her cheek. Weiss giggled at the display of affection. “It’s so good to see you again!” With this moment, she knew she did a good job.

Everyone else was left bewildered by the radical shift in attitude. “Uh…” Yang blurted out, “what the heck just happened?”

“Oh, come on now. You didn’t think I was always like that, did you?”

“Hm… so you are single?” She smiled again.

Weiss groaned. “She actually does have a girlfriend,” she replied.

“Crap…” Blake put her arm around her and kissed Yang’s cheek.

They heard another knock on the door. “I’ll get it!” Ruby shouted. Winter returned to her strict disposition for the unknown visitor. Ruby opened it and the person they saw immediately made Weiss tense. Cinder glanced at Ruby with a coquettish smirk. “Oh! Cinder.” In no time at all, Cinder grabbed her face and kissed her.

“Lovely to see you,” Cinder said. She looked up at Winter. “I don’t believe we have met.” She offered Winter a handshake. “My name is Cinder.”

Winter already knew this was the girl that Weiss talked to her about. Something about her made her… uneasy. Watching how she was around Ruby made her freeze. Both Ruby and Weiss knew exactly why. Weiss nudged her sister’s shoulder. “Huh?” Winter blurted out. She noticed the girl holding her hand out for her. “Oh, yes. Greetings.” She shook Cinder’s hand. “I’m Winter Schnee. Atlas specialist.”

“Impressive title. You must be favored by General Ironwood.”

“As favored as anyone can be in his eyes.”

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, but I came here to take Ruby out for lunch.”

Weiss elbowed her sister again and nodded to Cinder putting her arm around Ruby. Winter knew exactly what she meant. “Well, might Weiss and I accompany you?” Cinder paused. "I want to get to know my sister's friends and it would help to associate with... her friends' associates."

Weiss had a feeling that this would trip her up, but Cinder’s smile only grew. “That would be delightful.” This response concerned Weiss. She didn’t think Cinder would accept so easily. “Would the rest of the team like to come with us?”

“Nah, we’re good,” Yang replied as she embraced Blake, “I think we’ll be having ‘lunch’ in the room. You guys have fun.”

Blake sighed and said, “You’re not even trying to be subtle now, are you?”

“You’re still gonna enjoy it.” She poked Blake’s nose.

“Okay!” Weiss shouted. “Why don’t we get going?”

“Indeed,” Winter replied.

As the group left the room, Ruby pulled Weiss aside. “Just give us a few seconds,” Ruby said. “We’ll catch up.” The older women nodded and moved ahead. Ruby whispered to Weiss, “I know what’s going on.”

“So you know I’m trying to keep you safe,” Weiss answered.

“Weiss, Cinder is fine. Why are you so worried?”

“I just want to be sure, okay?”

Ruby knew it was really jealousy, but she thought letting this play out might ease Weiss’ tensions. “Fine, but I’ll let you know that it’s gonna be pointless.” The girls caught up with Cinder and Weiss and continued to the cafeteria.

* * *

Ruby and Cinder sat together across from Winter and Weiss. “So, I would like to know how you work as a team leader,” Winter said. “How are you at coordination and fighting?”

Ruby was nervous. “Well, I did make a pretty cool plan to take out a Nevermore.”

“What was it?”

“Uh, it was basically… making a giant slingshot with Weiss’ glyphs.” She looked down at her lap sheepishly.

As Winter raised an eyebrow, Weiss stepped in and said, “She has some… interesting ideas, but she knows how to pull people together. She has been improving.”

“And your improvements?” Winter asked.

She was caught off guard by that question. “Oh! I’ve been making great strides in my training.”

“How about your summons?”

“Uh… not quite.”

“Summons?” Ruby asked.

Winter stood up and opened up a glyph. From it rose a white Beowolf. Cinder was impressed by the ability. Ruby’s eyes widened. As the beast rushed towards, Winter drew her sword and slashed it in its tracks. “Like that,” Winter stated.

“Whoa! Weiss, you can do that?”

“Not yet apparently.” She looked down at her sister.

“I’ve tried,” Weiss explained, “but it’s difficult.”

“We’ll train later. I’ll make sure, as a Schnee, you’ll be doing it in no time.”

“I’m looking forward to that!” Ruby shouted.

Cinder chuckled as the put her arm around Ruby’s shoulder. “She’s adorable,” Cinder noted, “is she not?”

Ruby blushed as she entered Cinder’s embrace. Weiss narrowed her eyes as she watched the PDA. She waited for Winter to intervene. “Cinder…” Winter began, “how did you end up meeting Ruby?”

“A late-night study session. She needed some help with her test.”

“I see. And why not get help from her teammates?”

“Trust me,” Weiss said, “I tried to offer her help, but she wanted to work on her own.”

“Independence,” she said, pleasantly surprised. “Now, that seems to be an admirable trait in a team leader.” Weiss was glad that Winter found a positive in that.

Unfortunately, Cinder stepped in by saying, “She is quite mature for her age. Trust me.” She kissed Ruby’s cheek. “I do try to make sure that she is up to par with her study habits.”

“What about any other matters? I noticed that you are rather… affectionate towards Ruby.”

“Are you implying sexual matters?” Cinder bluntly stated, making Ruby blush at the idea. Even Winter was surprised. “If you’re worried that she might be too young for such a thing, I do make sure that she does consent to everything we do. I wouldn’t want her to feel forced into anything.”

Winter’s eyes narrowed. “It seems that Ruby is somewhat uncomfortable by it.”

“That’s only because she’s embarrassed about it. She gets rather… amorous when we’re alone, but I’ll leave out the details. It would be impolite to describe it and I think poor Ruby here has been embarrassed enough.”

“Cinder!” Ruby squealed.

What surprised Weiss was Winter’s reaction. She smirked at the comment. Smirked. This wasn’t how she wanted things to go. “You seem like you do care enough about Ruby’s safety,” Winter noted. Weiss thought, _What?!_ “Though, it seems that you are still much older than Ruby. She is fifteen and you are a senior. Even if she was a traditional freshman, it would be somewhat inappropriate.”

“Do you have some experience with that?” Cinder asked.

Coming right out of left field, Winter froze again and both young girls noticed. But she tried to regain composure. “At a point.”

“Let me guess. It didn’t end well?” Winter looked down at her hands. “I imagine that you had some experience that was rather… traumatizing.” Weiss was nervous that Cinder was trying to hit a nerve. “Don’t worry. I can tell it might be troublesome for you, so I won’t ask for details. Though, I can assure you that despite whatever you’re thinking of, it isn’t what I have in mind for Ruby here.”

Winter sighed. “It’s just… a sensitive topic.”

“Well, would you feel more comfortable, we could talk alone if you don’t mind.”

Winter mulled over it. “…Okay.” Winter rose from her seat and Cinder joined her.

Ruby looked at Weiss. “What do you think will happen?” Ruby asked.

“If Cinder is gonna try BS-ing her,” Weiss answered, “she’ll catch it. Trust me.”

They looked at the two women and waited for them to return. It didn’t take long and they both took their seats. “Ruby Rose…” Winter began, “…you are certainly lucky to have people like Weiss and Cinder looking out for your best interests.”

Weiss’ eyes widened. Cinder humbly smiled and accepted the compliment. “I’m honored that you would think that.”  
Nothing was going how Weiss wanted it. The last resort she had failed her. She didn’t know what else she could do. She knew that Cinder was off, but she couldn’t even get Winter to pin anything on her. Things seemed hopeless at this point.

* * *

The four finished their lunch and parted ways. As the sisters left, Weiss pulled Winter aside to talk. “What the hell?!”

“What?” Winter incredulously replied.

“Couldn’t you see what she was doing? She’s going to hurt Ruby!”

“Honestly, she seems fine to me. Maybe a little… handsy, but –“

“But isn’t that what happened to you?”

“She was never like that with me.”

This made Weiss stop. “…What?”

“She was never trying to be romantic with me before… what happened.” Weiss looked down at her feet as Weiss placed her hand on her shoulder. “Look, I know you do want to do right by Ruby to make sure nothing happens, but… I honestly think that you might just be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!”

“Are you sure?”

Weiss’ fists clenched as she averted eye-contact. “I… I would like a second chance with her, but… I know what happened to you and… I still care about her. I just want her to be safe. Even if she’s not with me.”

Winter finally understood. Weiss still loved her… but she wasn’t desperate to get her back. She just cared about her well-being. So, she hugged her sister and Weiss tentatively returned the affection. “Look, if you keep letting this fall on you, it won’t make your life easier. Ruby seems like she knows her limits and knows how to stand up for herself. Don’t worry.”

She was not happy about this, but she didn’t want to go against her sister’s wishes. She reluctantly replied, “Okay.”

“Good. Now, let’s go practice your summoning.”

* * *

After Winter’s departure, Weiss went back to the dorm and slammed the door shut. She listened to music just to block out everything. She couldn't believe that even Winter was on board with Cinder dating Ruby. Nothing was making sense anymore. She just couldn't process it.

That's when she heard a knock on the door. She was almost surprised she could hear it through the headphones. _"Noise-cancelling" my ass._ She took them off and opened the door. Literally, the last person she wanted to see was standing at the door. Cinder stared at Weiss with her smug smile. "Ugh. What do you want?" Weiss griped.

"I'm looking for someone," Cinder replied.

"Ruby isn't here right now. And besides, you shouldn't even be with her anyway."

Cinder backed Weiss further into the room. "I'm not looking for Ruby."

"What...? Then who are you looking for?"

"For you, of course," she answered as she shut the door behind her. Weiss' eyes widened. "It hurts, doesn't it? Knowing that Ruby genuinely likes me."

Weiss simply glared at her as Cinder walked closer. "I know you're trying to manipulate her. What is this? Some kind of game to you?"

"Yes." She bluntly replied. "You see, I did want to entertain myself by ensnaring the little gem for myself. And considering how angry it makes you... I think I made the right decision."

Weiss couldn't stand what she was hearing. To think that Cinder had the audacity to tell her this. That she had the gall to try and play with Ruby's heart like that. "Leave this room now, before I force you out of it."

"What's wrong? Can't handle the fact that Ruby wants my company?"

Weiss stormed past Cinder to the door. "I said, get out!"

But just as she opened the door for Cinder, the older girl slammed it shut, backing Weiss against it. Weiss knew what could be happening. It was Winter's ordeal, the fate she sought to avoid for Ruby. She never thought that it would happen to her. "Ruby is mine now. Whether you like it or not, I've got her trapped in my web. And there's absolutely nothing you can do about that." Cinder leaned in so that their faces were centimeters apart. Her gaze intensified. "Now, I suggest that you get over it. I don't plan on hurting Ruby, but I do like having her. And I'll keep her with me for as long as I'm here. If I'm lucky, when I return to Haven, she'll still want to be with me."

"...Why are you telling me this?"

That was when Cinder aggressively grabbed Weiss' face and kissed her deeply. Weiss was shocked and frightened... but she also felt the heat of Cinder's kiss on her lips. An overwhelming sensation. Cinder pulled away and her smile grew as Weiss stared back in confusion, shock, and fear. "Because no one will ever believe you."

With that, she opened the door and left the dazed Weiss where she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Things are definitely getting pretty tense. :)
> 
> By the way, I'm stil working on my series _[The Makings of Team CRME](https://archiveofourown.org/series/906558)_ and it is almost done! One chapter left! If you haven't read it yet, please do. I've been working very hard on it. And if you have been reading it, I added some edits to _An Emerald Unearthed_ and _The Black Hearts_. Check those ones out, too. :D


	13. Being Held Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder's confrontation with Weiss continues to bother her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a shorter chapter just to get this one updated.

Weiss sat with her teammates at lunch. However, Ruby was sitting with Cinder again, and Cinder behaved in her usual manner. Weiss couldn't keep her eyes off of them, and she frankly couldn't keep her mind off of what Cinder did to her a few days ago. It was always on her mind. So much so that she didn't even notice that Yang was talking to her. "Hello," Yang called out. "You there, Ice Queen?"

Weiss tried to hide her disdain for the name. At this point, she didn't have the energy to be bothered to correct her. "I just have a lot on my mind. That's all."

"Well, I was asking you if you and Neptune wanted to go on a double date with us."

"Uh… well, I don't know if I'm staying with Neptune in the long run. I mean, he's not a bad guy, but I don't know about being a long-term boyfriend."

Blake could see right through it and knew something was troubling Weiss. "Aw, that's too bad. Hey, maybe we could ask Ruby and Cinder if they will."

"Uh," Blake began, "are you sure about that?" She subtly indicated Weiss' discomfort with the situation.

Yang, however, didn't fully catch on. "You're right. Wouldn't want Weiss to feel left out of the fun. I guess it's just gonna be the two of us, Blakey."

Yang kissed Blake's neck, much to the embarrassment of the Faunus. "Yang, not here," she said through giggles. Weiss kept to her own lunch and just waited for it to end.

Suddenly, Ruby returned to her team. "Hey, guys!" she cheerfully greeted them. "Guess who's going on a fancy date this evening?"

"No way!" Yang shouted. "Is Cinder taking you out?"

Ruby nodded. "She's taking me to one of the fanciest restaurants in Vale. Five stars!" Weiss was growing more bitter listening to what she was hearing. She knew it was all a farce.

"Oh, come on! There's no way she's got enough money to take you to a five-star restaurant."

"I could've taken you to a five-star restaurant." Ruby's smile faded at the remark. She could tell this was making Weiss upset. I didn't think she was still jealous, she thought.

"You know if you don't want people to think you're not jealous, saying things like that won't help your case."

"I'm not… never mind." She went back to her food. Blake and Ruby noticed her melancholy attitude and were equally concerned.

Yang, however, moved on from this and continued talking about Ruby's date. Ruby reluctantly continued, but it was still on her mind every time she glanced back at Weiss.

* * *

Team RWBY sat in Dr. Oobleck's class, waiting for the bell to ring. Yang was falling asleep, but Ruby and Blake were furiously taking notes, trying to keep up with the man. ("Trying" is the key word.)

However, Weiss had something else in mind. She didn't even bother to write anything down as he talked at lightning speed. Instead, she got a different idea. She wrote down a note and waited until it looked like Oobleck wasn't paying attention. She quickly slid the note to Blake. As the Faunus looked up at Weiss, who held a finger to her lip.

Blake looked at the note and it read, "Meet me after class alone." She looked over at Weiss and nodded.

"Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee!" Oobleck called out, startling Yang into consciousness. "Are you two passing notes in my class?"

"No, sir," Blake answered while quickly hiding it under her lecture notes.

Immediately, Oobleck zipped over and picked up the first piece of paper on her desk, the notes she was taking before Weiss got her attention. "Okay, you're in the clear. Although, you seem to be a bit behind on where I am in the lecture."

"I think it would help if you gave the lecture a bit more slowly."

"I would love to comply with your request, Miss Belladonna, but I'm on my seventh cup of coffee today and I don't think that's physically possible for me right now! All I shall say is do your best to keep up with the slowest I can go for you!" He zipped back up to the front of the room. A rather close call. Though Blake speculated that whatever Weiss wanted to talk about probably wasn't good.

* * *

After the class, Weiss pulled Blake aside. She looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Weiss, what is this about?" Blake inquired.

"Look," Weiss started, "you believed me about Cinder, right?"

"Yeah… wait. What happened? Did she do something to Ruby?"

"No! No." She tried to calm Blake down from her panic. "She didn't do anything to Ruby, but…" Weiss hesitated to figure out how to let her know exactly what to say to her. "She came to the dorm a few days ago."

"What?" Weiss nodded. "What did she want?"

"She… she admitted to me that she… she was toying with Ruby. That she only wanted to keep her under her thumb." Blake rubbed her arm regretfully. Her suspicions were confirmed. "She said she wasn't trying to hurt her, but that doesn't make me feel any better."

"I guess that's… kinda reassuring, but she could be lying."

"I don't think she is lying. But that's not all."

"What else is there?"

Weiss glanced at her own feet. "She pushed me against the door and then she… she kissed me."

"WHAT?!" Weiss shushed her, but it did nothing to quell Blake's astonishment. "Wait. Did she… you know…"

"No. she didn't do that. She just kissed me and said that no one would believe me. And that was it. She just left." Blake calmed down, but it didn't make her feel better. "Why would she even do that to me?"

Blake sighed. "I really don't know, Weiss."

"I mean, I've considered telling Ruby, but… what if Cinder's right? What if Ruby doesn't believe me?"

"It couldn't hurt to try, but… I know this might sound crazy… I think you should just leave it alone for the time being."

"What?"

"You've seen how happy Ruby is, and it's not like Cinder is planning on doing anything bad to her. Maybe… maybe it's all to get under your skin."

Weiss could barely believe what she was hearing. She thought she at least had one ally, but this was uncalled for. "But… but Ruby doesn't deserve to be treated like some kind of toy! She's still using her!"

"Honestly, it doesn't seem like anything other than a harmless fling."

"I thought you believed me!"

"I do! I do believe you, but I don't think Cinder really wants to hurt her." Weiss was speechless. She didn't know what else to do if even Blake wasn't on her side about this anymore.

"Hey, Snow Angel," they heard Neptune saying. Neptune and Sun approached them, and Blake was secretly thankful that they came to interrupt. "I was wondering if you're free tonight. Maybe we could… y'know…" His sly smile gave him away.

Weiss saw through exactly what he was trying to say, and she could've sworn that she saw Sun rolling his eyes. "If you're asking me to have sex with you," she replied, "I'm gonna have to give that a raincheck."

"Woah," he replied, genuinely surprised. "I was saying we could hang out in the library, but we could do that, too."

Blake leaned in closed and whispered, "Maybe you guys can do it in the library."

Weiss knew what she was referring to and she immediately elbowed her in the stomach for that. "I'm gonna have to say no for now, but I'll text you later."

"Come on, dude," Sun announced, "How about we leave before you embarrass yourself any further." He put his arm around Neptune's shoulder and spun him around to leave, but not before Neptune gave Weiss a wink.

As Blake got up, she held her stomach in pain. "Come on. Let's go back to the dorm." Weiss escorted Blake back out of pity.

* * *

Weiss sat on her bed as she watched Ruby prepare for her date. She grabbed her dress from the dance and started putting on makeup for her. Weiss shook her head, thinking it was ridiculous. "Ruby, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Getting ready for my date tonight," Ruby replied. "It's a five-star restaurant, so I need to look my best."

Weiss got off the bed and took a towel to wipe the makeup off Ruby's face. "Well, you don't need all of this. You'll look fine without it."

"Uh… thanks. I didn't expect that you'd be helping me out with this." Weiss knew exactly why Ruby surprised. She knew she was still jealous of Cinder. "I kinda thought you'd… I dunno."

"Look, Ruby, about your date…" Ruby looked into her eyes and Weiss found it a bit harder to admit what she wanted to tell her. "About Cinder, she… I…" Weiss rubbed her forearm as she avoided eye-contact. "Just be careful," she decided to say instead. "I just want you to be careful. Okay?"

Ruby's lips creased into a flat line as she saw the conflict in Weiss' face. She wanted to know why, but she was going to be late for the reservation. Instead of prodding, she decided to give her a hug. "I will. You know I will." Weiss reluctantly returned the hug before breaking it off to let Ruby go. "I'll see you later."

As Ruby shut the door, Weiss dropped face-first onto her bed. She had to admit what Cinder did, but for whatever reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Every moment that she kept quiet about it was eating away at her on the inside.

As for Ruby, she walked down the hall as she contemplated what about Cinder was bothering Weiss more than usual. She could tell there was something else going on, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She had to ask her once she got back from the date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, comments are always appreciated. Please let me know what you think.


	14. A Very Important Date

Weiss walked out of her dorm to get some fresh air. She needed to take her mind off of her mistake of not confessing to Ruby. She went to the courtyard to relax. That's when she saw something she couldn't believe… Blake kissing Sun! What?! Oh, I'm not gonna let this slide.

She stormed over to the two of them. "You two!" Both of them looked at Weiss. She knew had a lot of explaining to do. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Oh, Weiss," Blake stuttered. "I didn't –"

"You didn't what? Tell me that you're cheating on Yang?!"

"Weiss," Sun added. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Oh, I'd really like to know how it isn't!"

"Hey, guys!" she heard Yang say. She saw her happily walking up to the group. She wrapped her arms around both Faunus… and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. Wait… what? "Ready for tonight?" Yang noticed Weiss' presence while barely changing her tone. "Hey, Weiss. What's up?"

"Uh… I have a lot of questions."

"Well… how can I explain this…?" Blake said.

"We're all dating now," Sun bluntly stated.

"Yeah. That's it."

"It was my idea. I thought we could give it a go. I knew he liked Blake and to be honest, I kinda like him, too, and Blake was considering going to him. I thought, 'Instead of choosing one or the other, let's take the third option.'"

"I…" Weiss stuttered, "…I really didn't even know you could do that."

"It's not a bad idea. We're enjoying it." She pulled her lovers closer as they smiled. "So, what are you doing out here?"

Weiss didn't want to explain what she was doing there. "I just… needed some fresh air."

"Still thinking about Cinder?" Blake accurately assumed. Weiss only looked down at her feet. "Did you at least tell Ruby what happened?" Weiss shook her head.

"What?" Yang asked. "What happened?"

Weiss answered, "Don't worry too much about it. It's nothing."

"It might help to tell Ruby," Blake suggested. However, Weiss did nothing but shrug.

"Well, whatever you do," Sun said, "just think about it. Whatever's going on."

Weiss was oddly comforted by that comment. She never would've expected this, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't help. "Thanks, Sun," she replied. "You guys go have fun."

"Thanks." He turned to his girlfriends and said, "Let's go, ladies." As they left, she decided to go back to her room to listen to music and figure out how she was going to confess to Ruby what happened. 

* * *

Ruby took a taxi to the restaurant and as soon as she stepped out and saw the establishment, she already felt out of place. _Oh my gosh! This is insane._ She hoped that she would find Cinder soon because she wouldn't last too long without her. "Ruby!" she heard. Thank the gods. She turned, and Cinder was already waiting for her at the entrance. The dress Cinder chose was a curve-hugging, dark crimson dress baring her cleavage. Ruby couldn't help but blush at the sight.

Ruby approached her and gave her a hug. "Hey, Cinder," she replied.

"I'm glad you made it." She gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You're just in time." She held out her arm for Ruby and interlocked it with Ruby's arm as she escorted her to the hostess. "We have a reservation for two under the name 'Cinder'."

She looked through the registry and fund the name. "Ah, here it is," she announced as she escorted them to the table. "Right this way, ladies."

As they went on, Cinder leaned over to whisper to Ruby. "Nervous at all?"

"Well, I guess I'm a bit out of my depth," Ruby admitted. "I can go against twenty Nevermore Grimm all day, but I'm not cut out for this fancy stuff."

As they arrived at the table, Cinder pulled out Ruby's seat for her. "Nothing to worry about, darling. You'll be fine." She took her seat across from Ruby.

Later, they enjoyed their meals as they talked. Ruby was surprised by all the new things she was trying. It was absolutely delectable. She wished she could eat here all the time and feared that Cinder was spoiling her. "This is lovely, Cinder. I still can't believe that you got a reservation here. It's so surreal."

Cinder smirked. "Only the best for my little gem." Ruby blushed at the nickname, satisfying Cinder. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to consider improving Crescent Rose."

"Oh! I don't know. I kinda think she's perfect as she is."

"Even so, there's always room for a tune-up. It couldn't hurt."

"I mean, I don't wanna mess with anything. I like her how she is, and I don't want to mess with what's already fine."

"That's fair." She finished her food and looked up at Ruby and asked, "Are you finished with your food?"

"Yeah. I'm done."

She said it just as soon as the waiter came with the check. "How will you be paying?"

"I'll be taking care of this," Cinder replied.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom for a bit," Ruby said.

"Take your time, I'll take care of everything here."

Ruby left her alone and headed for the women's room. After finishing up, she went to wash her hands. That's when she saw Cinder entering the bathroom. "Oh! Cinder. Did you already pay the bill?"

"I did." She wrapped her arms around Ruby's waist and pulled her back as she kissed her neck.

"What are you doing?"

"Are you embarrassed?"

"I mean… here and now?"

Cinder whispered into her ear, "If you don't wanna do this, just say so and I'll stop." Her hand traveled under Ruby's dress.

"Uh… You know, I think we shouldn't do this here."

True to her word, Cinder stopped immediately. "Okay then, little gem." She kissed her on the cheek before releasing her. "I'll meet you outside and give you a ride back to campus."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks." _Wow. She really meant it. Weiss was worried over nothing._ It gave her solace that Cinder wasn't going to force her like that. 

* * *

Ruby returned from her date just after ten. She imagined that Weiss would be asleep by now, but to her surprise, she saw Weiss sitting up on her bed. Both girls stopped like deer in headlights when they made eye contact. "Hey, Weiss," Ruby greeted.

"Hey, Ruby," the heiress replied. "How was your date?"

"Fantastic. It really was amazing…" Ruby trailed off as she realized how Weiss really felt about this. "Uh, look. I know how you feel about Cinder." Weiss stood up and approached Ruby. "It may make you feel uncomfortable, but it's nothing like –"

"I love you." It was something that caught them both off guard. Ruby's eyes widened, but Weiss tried to push on through the initial shock. "I love you, Ruby Rose. I still love you and I can't stop thinking about you."

"Weiss, I –"

"I admit that I'm jealous of Cinder. I am. She doesn't deserve you at all. You deserve so much better than her." Ruby was touched that she finally admitting this. "She doesn't love you. She just thinks of you as a prize to be won. I'm not going to say that I'm the one fit for you or that I'm the perfect person for you, but I love you. I love you for who you are."

"Weiss…"

"I love your beautiful smile and attitude. I love your optimism, your enthusiasm. I love everything about you. Even your faults and flaws because that's what makes you who you are, and I wouldn't change them for anything in the world. I want you to know that. You are… a beautiful young woman who is just –"

Ruby was so moved by what Weiss said that she cut her off with a kiss. "I love you, too, Weiss." Weiss smiled at the admission. "I know it must've been hard for you to say this to me."

"You have no idea." Ruby chuckled. "I know that you're dating Cinder now, but I needed to tell you this. I'm not asking you to choose. I just needed to get this off my chest."

Ruby then did something unexpected. She pinned Weiss to the bed as she kissed her passionately. "I choose you, Weiss." Tears fell from Weiss' eyes as she saw that warm smile that she loved so much. Ruby pulled off the dress and kept kissing Weiss as her hands went up her nightgown. Weiss wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck as she held her close. This time, she wasn't going to let her go.

 

Ruby and Weiss laid in bed together, naked under the covers. "So," Weiss began, "I guess this means you'll be breaking up with Cinder?"

"And you with Neptune," Ruby noted.

"Eh. It wasn't going to last that long anyway." She pulled Ruby close as the warmth of their bodies comforted each other. "Ruby? I… I'm sorry for the way I behaved."

"You were just looking out for me. Nothing wrong with that."

"But it was… nothing more than me being jealous. I mean, at first it was coming from a mostly good place, but after a while, I realized that I really did want you back. And I tried to step on your happiness just because of my jealousy."

"I thought you said Cinder didn't deserve me?"

"She doesn't, but it's not my right to step in on what makes you happy. Besides, if she hurt you, she'd definitely be paying for it."

"You'd have to get in line. I'm pretty sure Yang gets first dibs as the big sister."

Weiss chuckled. "That's fair." However, her expression became more somber. "Hey, Ruby… do you ever wonder how things would be if I never saw you first during orientation?"

Ruby shrugged. "Nope. I try not to."

"Why? I mean, you had every right to hate me. I was an asshole to you the whole time."

"Yeah, you **were** one. But you changed. I honestly like you a lot more now than when we met. Sure, we got off on the wrong foot, but if that never happened… I wouldn't be with you here right now." Weiss smiled at the answer.

Unfortunately, their moment was ruined as soon as the door opened. Blake and Yang returned and saw Ruby and Weiss together. "Oh. My. Gods!" Yang screamed. "Holy shit! You guys are…! Oh, my gods. I have so many questions. Have you and Cinder broken up? What about you and Neptune? Are things gonna be awkward from now on?"

Weiss groaned at the barrage of questions while Ruby's cheeks went red with embarrassment. "Yang! Not again," Ruby screamed.

"I just need to know! This is huge! I mean, have you even told Cinder yet? Is she gonna be mad? Oh, I bet you she's gonna be pissed about this."

"Yang," Blake said just before kissing her passionately. "Five minutes. Meet me in the locker room, and bring…" She whispered to Yang and judging by how her face lit up, it was something good.

"Yes, please!" She turned to the naked girls and said, "I'll be asking questions later." With that, Yang rushed out.

"Thank you," Weiss replied, relieved that she didn't have to go through a repeat of when they lost their virginities.

"Don't mention it," Blake answered as she exited the room. The two fell asleep in each other's arms. Finally, Weiss didn't have to worry about Ruby anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Sunny Bees. Didn't expect that, did you? Also, yeah. I'm settling in on White Rose. However, I'd still consider doing some more Cinderruby stuff later. So, to those who came to this story for that, fret not. You'll get your ship. For those White Rose fans, you can now rejoice.
> 
> By the way thanks for the comments on the story so far. I enjoyed reading them and I hope you send more. :)
> 
> And I wanna take the time to promote my newest story _[Vale's Underground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14762013/chapters/34136622)_. It's a cop-drama AU and I'm really looking forward to creating this story. It'll be a pretty interesting ride. I'd appreciate you giving it a chance.
> 
> Also, I have to say that this is going to be the last chapter for now. I'm going to be working on more stories and planning more chapters of this one. This is about as far as I got in the plot as far as a steady plan, but now I have to go back to the drawing board. So, in the meantime, check out those other stories. I'd appreciate you guys checking them out.


End file.
